iss057e114747 (12/9/2018) --- European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Alex Gerst is photographed with the Perfect Crystals investigation. Perfect Crystals studies human manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD or SOD2) in order to analyze its shape. MnSOD is implicated in a number of human diseases, including non-Hodgkins lymphoma, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Understanding how it works is an important step toward developing better prevention and treatment methods for such diseases.

Date December 9, 2018