Combustion science is the study of how fire burns. Without gravity, fire behaves quite differently than on Earth. Studying combustion may help make its use here on Earth as an energy source more efficient, and also make advances in space flight fire safety. In the absence of gravity it is possible to form materials in different ways that may yield better combinations. Insulin crystals grown in space.
Biotechnology is the application of engineering and technology in life science.
The first of these, protein crystal growth, will be studied by cultivating certain proteins. In the absence of gravity, these proteins grow larger and with greater perfection, making them easier to study. The second area of research will involve cell and tissue culturing. These studies will use bioreactors to grow human tissue outside the body. By doing this, scientists can study the effects of various medicines on these tissues without harming humans.