Houston ranks among the top markets with most diverse STEM workforce. Getty Images

Houston has long been known as a melting pot with almost 1 in 4 Houstonians being foreign born and no ethnic majority, but a recent study has shown that this diversity translates to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics industry.

SmartAsset studied the demographics within STEM employment in 35 technology hubs in the United States. The company factored in racial, ethnic, and gender diversity using Census Bureau's 2017 one-year American Community Survey data and the Shannon index.

As a result of the research, Houston was named the No. 6 market for diversity among the tech hubs considered. Fifty percent of Houston's STEM workforce is not white, and of that, 21 percent are Asian, 15 percent are hispanic, and 14 percent are black.

Less exciting, Houston has some room for improvement when it comes to gender diversity, the study found. Only 27 percent of Houston's STEM workforce are women, and that's more of a middle-of-the-pack ranking compared.

Washington D.C. claimed the top spot for STEM diversity after jumping from 10th place on last year's report. The U.S. capital boasts the highest percentage of female workers in STEM at 43 percent. Behind DC is Philadelphia, Sacramento, New York, and Boston. Dallas also appears on the top 10 list, coming in at No. 9. Dallas was also called out for its low percentage of women in STEM with women making up only 24 percent of the STEM workforce — the lowest representation among the top 10.

In April, the city of Houston was named the most diverse city in America, according to data from personal finance website, WalletHub. That study analyzed 501 of the most populated cities in America across five key dimensions: socioeconomic diversity, cultural diversity, economic diversity, household diversity, and religious diversity.

When you zero in on technology specifically, Houston does pretty well with female representation in the industry. In a separate report from SmartAsset that was released earlier this year, Houston was named the fourth best major metro for women in technology based on quality of life, pay, and more.

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Axiom Space-tested cancer drug advances to clinical trials

mission critical

A cancer-fighting drug tested aboard several Axiom Space missions is moving forward to clinical trials.

Rebecsinib, which targets a cancer cloning and immune evasion gene, ADAR1, has received FDA approval to enter clinical trials under active Investigational New Drug (IND) status, according to a news release. The drug was tested aboard Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) and Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3). It was developed by Aspera Biomedicine, led by Dr. Catriona Jamieson, director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute (SSCI).

The San Diego-based Aspera team and Houston-based Axiom partnered to allow Rebecsinib to be tested in microgravity. Tumors have been shown to grow more rapidly in microgravity and even mimic how aggressive cancers can develop in patients.

“In terms of tumor growth, we see a doubling in growth of these little mini-tumors in just 10 days,” Jamieson explained in the release.

Rebecsinib took part in the patient-derived tumor organoid testing aboard the International Space Station. Similar testing is planned to continue on Axiom Station, the company's commercial space station that's currently under development.

Additionally, the drug will be tested aboard Ax-4 under its active IND status, which was targeted to launch June 25.

“We anticipate that this monumental mission will inform the expanded development of the first ADAR1 inhibitory cancer stem cell targeting drug for a broad array of cancers," Jamieson added.

According to Axiom, the milestone represents the potential for commercial space collaborations.

“We’re proud to work with Aspera Biomedicines and the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute, as together we have achieved a historic milestone, and we’re even more excited for what’s to come,” Tejpaul Bhatia, the new CEO of Axiom Space, said in the release. “This is how we crack the code of the space economy – uniting public and private partners to turn microgravity into a launchpad for breakthroughs.”