Dr Slaoui said this was often the scenario in the search for a new medicine. “A new medicine is an unknown unknown. Taking a person to the Moon is an unbelievably complex feat to achieve – but it is the assembly of many knowns.  “Discovering a new medicine, going through that science, is going into complete darkness. That is a bit like jumping into the darkness of space,” he said.  At GSK, he tried to ensure that scientists were confident enough to make that leap. “One of the things I find fascinating is how to create the conditions for scientists to feel comfortable enough to go for the left-field hypothesis. That is where we will find the next real breakthrough, rather than the next iteration of something that is already known.”  Johnson explained that the ISS, had two purposes: one to discover more about the effects of long-term space travel on the human body (in preparation for a trip to Mars and other planets in deep space), and the second to conduct experiments that can’t be carried out on Earth.  For 30 hours a week, the six astronauts on board carry out research, testing hypotheses for scientists who collaborate with Casis.  “As astronauts we are guinea pigs, and they are analysing our bodies and the changes that occur,” said Johnson. “There are changes that take place in a space flight. Bones degenerate about 2 per cent a month – and without counter-measures, muscles degrade and our fluids shift, our genes express differently and in some cases our immune systems change.”  He also gained 4.2cm during his flights, which led to problems with his neck. To deal with them he had to press down on his head with his arm. "As I always wanted to be 6ft, I liked the extra height, but once I was back on Earth I shrank back to my normal height," he joked.  Dr Slaoui said his interest in vaccines was driven by the death of his baby sister from a vaccine-preventable disease when she was six months old. He has spent much of his career at GSK working on the malaria vaccine.  When he heard about its effectiveness while driving on a family holiday he was so overcome with emotion he had to park his car and just sit quietly. "Having seen the hypotheses of a vaccine become a reality was an incredible moment,” he said.  But discovering a new medicine is incredibly difficult. Only 6 per cent of experimental research produces a medicine that helps people. Dr Slaoui believes that finding a drug is often down to educated intuition: "When linked to knowledge and experience, this would lead a scientist to explore a particular pathway or protein when looking for a treatment for a heart condition or other diseases."  Both men discussed the many failures that are inevitable in exploring both space and medicine, and how it is important to learn from experiments that fail. "It's a big challenge in drug discovery," said Dr Slaoui.  "The famous quote in the space world is that failure is not an option," said Johnson. "But there are many opportunities for failure which we then have to overcome and learn from. At the ISS we start working on one hypothesis and if it does not work we will change direction."  Dr Slaoui said he felt his job was to inspire his team of scientists, who have come to work every day for 20 years to carry out experiments time and time again, many of which fail. "It takes a lot of risk-taking, commitment and resilience; I have to create that passion and ignite it so we can continue to produce life-saving medicines.”  Listen to the full discussion with Nicola Hill, Dr Moncef Slaoui and Gregory H Johnson »  To find out more about the work GSK undertakes, visit gsk.com
Dr Moncef Slaoui, GSK&rsquo;s chairman of global vaccines and leader in bioelectronics discusses the exploration of space to find potential new medicines