How on Earth can a future space shuttle mission to the International Space Station lead to a better treatment for diseases?

Chemistry professor Bill Wilson of Mississippi State and his NASA colleagues have discovered that gravity may be the key.

Their efforts are part of the Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth mission, a $13 million NASA project. Other research sponsors include the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the Center for Biophysical Science and Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Wilson, an MSU Giles Distinguished Professor, was the first researcher to develop a method for predicting the conditions in which protein crystals will grow efficiently. In tribute, the process, known as the Wilson Crystallization Slot, bears his name.

He also will be the first Mississippi State faculty member to have an experiment fly aboard the space station.

A space shuttle flight, possibly next summer, will transport proteins associated with certain diseases—sickle cell anemia, influenza, and diabetes, among others—to the just-opened space station. In the gravity-free environment, the crystals will be grown to produce accurate three-dimensional structures of the proteins.

Wilson said the absence of gravity generally produces better three-dimensional crystal growth. "Earth gravity has an adverse influence on crystal growth," he explained. "Because there is almost no gravity in space, you get a better protein crystal structure."

The first NASA flight with the crystals tentatively is scheduled for June.

"People always ask me if I am going to make the flight," Wilson said. "I tell them I don't even like to ride the teapots at Disney World!"