Traveling to space is brutal in the body.
Space light can cause astronaut’s bones to lose density, their brain and ocular nerves swell and their genes change the expression. The investigation suggests that spending time in space is similar to accelerated aging.
NASA’s pioneering study of the identical twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly tracked the aging signals in both men, while Mark remained on earth and Scott spent 340 days in space.
Some changes in Scott’s body, such as DNA damage, reduced cognitive function and shortening of telomeres that limit and protect chromosomes, persisted even after six months, according to an “2019 emblematic study” study “published in the journal Science.
Now, a study published on Thursday in Cell Stem Cell magazine describes a new discovery: that stem cells show signs of aging during the stress of the space flight as well.
In fact, they age “ten times faster in space than in the field,” said Dr. Catriona Jamieson, director of the Sanford Stem Cell Institute of the University of California, San Diego, main author of the study.
Stem cells are special cells that can be developed in various types of tissue. The aging of stem cells is potentially worrying because the natural capacity of the body decreases to repair their tissues and organs, which can lead to chronic age -related conditions, such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and heart problems.
The new study comes at a time when interest in the space flight is increasing. Governments are planning long -term missions for the Moon, and private companies are launching consumers and celebrities into space. Understanding the health risks involved is important to make space trips safer. And the acceleration of aging in cells could also help researchers better understand how biological processes are developing more slowly, here on earth.
The researchers collected Bone marrow stem cells donated by people who underwent hip replacement surgery. The cells were lodged within the “nanobiorreactors”, which are essentially small and transparent blood bags not larger than an iPhone where biological processes could take place. The nanobiorreactors were placed inside a box built to monitor cells called Cubelab.
Each patient sample was divided into two buckets, one that was intended for space, while the other remained on earth.
The space packages were launched during four commercial missing missions of Spacex to the International Space Station. In total, the samples went from 32 to 45 days in the Spacex spacecraft, giving cells more than a month in microgravity or eagerness experienced in orbit. The researchers used the cells in Cublab configurations on the ground for comparison.
The Cubeab monitored the cells during their trips and land stays, taking images of them every day through a microscope. Once the stem cells, the stem cells of space returned to the earth, the researchers compared those samples with their “earth controls” sequenceing their genomes and performing other tests.
