North West Microbiome Project to Launch June 29 for International Space Station

EVANSTON – Twenty laboratory mice are about to play an important role in preparing humans to go to Mars. A Northwestern University microbiome study in space is one of five scientific investigations that are expected to be launched on Friday June 29 aboard the SpaceX Dragon and heading for the International Space Station ( ISS).

Scientists Fred W. Turek and Martha H. Vitaterna lead the project. They and seven members of the team will attend the early morning launch at Cape Canaveral Air Station and are now in Florida preparing preparations.

Researchers want to learn how the environment of microgravity of space affects the community of thousands of microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract, or microbiota, and how space affects circadian rhythms and d & # 39; Other physiological systems.

The mouse study complements the previous study of the Scott Northwestern team and Mark Kelly, one of 10 NASA-funded groups that study twins to learn how to live in the United States. Space for a long time affects the human body.

"This rodent research mission – just the eighth of NASA since the end of the ISS and the rejuvenation of the US space biology program – is analogous to the study of human twins Year in Space, but we will be working with 10 identical siblings from two different families. "said Turek, Charles E. and Emma H. ​​Morrison professor of biology and director of the Northwestern Circadian Sleep and Biology Center. "Because a trip to Mars and the return should take several years, we must determine how the gut microbiota could be altered in zero gravity over long periods."

The 20 mice aboard the ISS, half of which will spend a record 90 days in orbit, will be supplemented by Earth-bound controls in three different groups, including one living in a highly specialized simulator of NASA replicating exactly the next minute conditions – but with gravity – inside the space station.

These results, together with the results of the twin study, should provide better protection for astronauts' health during long-term space missions. (The results of the twins study are expected to be released later this year.) The results of the rodent study could also improve the treatment of gastrointestinal, immune, metabolic and sleep disorders at home. humans on Earth.

"It's important to understand how space travel can influence the circadian system because it coordinates so many biological processes," said Vitaterna, a research professor and associate director of the Northwestern Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology. "The take-off effort, the absence of gravity and the confined life add to the stress of life in the space.The key to adaptation can be in the body's ability to maintain harmony between systems. "

For the first time, NASA will record mice in space for 48 hours at a time to help researchers study sleep-wake cycles in animals.