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WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly three years after the return of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly after nearly a year in orbit, researchers are still studying data collected during an unprecedented study comparing his state of health to that of his twin brother.
According to them, the comparison did not give warning signals on long-term space flights on the International Space Station. "Overall, it's encouraging," said Craig Kundrot, Director of the Science Research and Applications Division, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. physical and life in NASA space.
But studies have raised questions about the potential impact of exposure to weightlessness and space radiation during longer missions on the Moon and Mars.
"It's mostly green flags, and maybe a handful of things that look more or less like yellow flags, things to watch out for," said Christopher Mason, researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine, who is the principal investigator of the Twins study.
Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm "type =" text "content =" These yellow flags include a hyperactive immune system response, a high rate of DNA repair in Kelly's genes and higher rates of mitochondria in her blood Mason and other researchers reported these effects on health more than a year agobut they still do not fully understand what is behind them. These yellow flags include a hyperactive immune system response, a high rate of DNA repair in Kelly's genes and higher rates of mitochondria in her blood.Mason and d & # 39; Other researchers have reported these effects on health more than a year ago, but they still do not fully understand what underlies them.
"It could be a good adaptive response to spaceflight, with no permanent consequences, because you would expect the body to make adjustments," said Kundrot. "Or it could be sending things down a path that might be a concern. We just do not know yet.
Mason noted that Kelly's immune system had been in overdrive after being vaccinated against flu in the space station – as part of an experiment to assess the immune system's response. "Everything seems to indicate that the immune system is working well," said Mason. "This does not necessarily indicate a deregulation … Hyperactivation would be what I describe."
Some researchers have wondered whether astronauts should follow gene therapy to deal with the stress of long-term space flight. "The answer is probably" not necessarily "because that's how the body adapts to microgravity," Mason said. "It's just something to watch for."
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Once Kelly came back to Earth in March 2016, most of the changes in the way his genes were activated – a phenomenon known as gene expression – quickly returned to the trend that prevailed before his flight in the year. However, 7% of the changes observed in gene expression persisted until the end of the study period, six months after the end of the flight. (In some quarters this has given rise to the false impression that 7% of Kelly's DNA had changed.) "data-reactid =" 32 "> Once Kelly came back to Earth in March 2016, most of the changes in how his genes were activated – a phenomenon known as gene expression – are quickly returned to the configuration that prevailed before its space flight, which lasted all year.But 7% of the changes observed in the expression of genes persisted until the end of the period of time. 39, study, six months after the end of the flight (this sometimes gave the mistaken impression that 7% of Kelly's DNA had changed.)
The NASA Twins study was designed to compare Scott Kelly's vital signs and gene expression patterns with those of his identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, who also became an astronaut but who had retired from the NASA as Scott entered the space station for a year.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "It has long been known that spaceflight can be dangerous for example, weightlessness can result in a loss of bone mass and muscular mass, and hurt the sight. "data-reactid =" 34 "> It has long been known that spaceflight can be dangerous to health: for example, weightlessness can cause bone and muscle loss and impair vision.
And that's not all, said Kundrot.
"You have radiation," he says. "The atmospheric environment is altered: CO2 levels on board are higher. You may have more stress associated with the event. On a cognitive level, you are in a very limited environment, the size of a house. … There is a multitude of things.
<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Radiation could be the biggest source of" worry when astronauts take long-term missions on Mars.Recent studies have suggested that Radiation levels encountered during extended Mars mission may exceed current NASA guidelines for lifetime exposure, data-reactid = "37"> Radiation could be the main source of concern when astronauts perform long-term missions to Mars. Previous studies have suggested that radiation levels encountered during an extension of the Mars mission could exceed NASA's current lifetime exposure recommendations, which would increase the cancer risk of an astronaut.
Even in the Twins study, Mason said the researchers found increased gene activation along the "normal DNA pathways that you would observe when DNA is damaged by ionizing radiation" .
The detailed results of the Twins study will soon be published in a series of peer-reviewed articles. In the meantime, NASA is planning new studies on the adaptation of organisms to the environment in space.
Four biological experiments will be packaged aboard the NASA Orion capsule and sent well beyond the moon 's orbit during a three – week test flight currently scheduled for 2020. The unmanned test flight, known as the Exploration Mission-1 or EM-1, will also mark the first launch of a NASA rocket called "Space Launch System".
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Today, said NASA EM-1 experiments will includeNASA announced today that EM-1 experiments would include:
- Life after Earth: The effect of spaceflight on seeds with improved nutritional value: This study, led by Federica Brandizzi of Michigan State University, will describe how spaceflight affects the nutrients found in plant seeds, with the goal of gaining new insights that will increase the nutritional value of plants grown in flight. spatial.
- Fuel at Mars: Timothy Hammond of the Institute for Medical Research is planning a set of studies to identify the genes that contribute to the deep space survival of a type of photosynthetic algae known as the name of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
- Study of the roles of melanin and DNA repair on the adaptation and survival possibility of fungi in deep space: Zheng Wang, from the Naval Research Laboratory, and his colleagues will use the fungus Aspergillus nidulans to study the radiation-protective effects of melanin and the response to DNA damage.
- The multigenerational genome-wide form of yeast profiling beyond and below the Earth, the Van Allen belts: This study will use yeast as a model organism to identify the genes that help organisms adapt to flight conditions in deep space during the EM-1 mission, as well as in space flights in Earth orbit. onboard the International Space Station. The principal investigator is Luis Zea from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
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