Some medical research can only be performed in orbit, aboard the space station, where there is only microgravity. The same weightlessness that lets space-suited astronauts move massive objects easily also offers a unique learning opportunity, as in the case of zero-gravity's effects on astronauts' skeletal systems and loss of bone and muscle mass. For example, due to extreme bone loss, experiments in space offer a unique opportunity to develop a cure for osteoporosis.Microgravity allows unique conditions for growth of protein crystals where there is no gravity or convection to disrupt their growth. The protein expressed in certain muscle fibers of patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which affects 1 in 3,500 boys, has been successfully crystallized in space revealing a new inhibitor several hundred times stronger than the prototype inhibitor.A surgical instrument inspired by the Canadian Space Agency's heavy-lifting and maneuvering robotic arms on the space station is in clinical trials for use in patients with breast cancer. The Image-Guided Autonomous Robot works inside an MRI machine to help accurately identify the size and location of a tumor.