Tuesday, April 28, 2015

How Space Effects the Body

NASA twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly are participating in a genetic study that will take place while one on Earth and the other is in space. The purpose is to study the effects of spaceflight using their identical twin genetic makeup. NASA's Human Research Program and Bio-medical Research Institute have taken up this unique research and have ask potential researcher to design an observational comparison between the two astronauts. John Charles the chief of HRP's international science office says that the genetic revolution has reached the space age. He stated that this research was an opportunity to explore.

Data for this research will be collect during Scott Kelly's yearlong space flight. Scott is aboard the International Space Station, his year long journey started last month in March. Mark will be the researcher controlled subject. While Scott is spending a year in space his identical twin Mark will be living out his normal life down on Earth.

In order to collect the data the twins will take blood samples at regular intervals. They will also be providing saliva, psychological, and physical tests. the researchers will be focusing on how effect the space environment on human DNA. They will be looking for any changes in small molecules that are effected by dieting, stress, and zero gravity.

There are no defined outcomes of this research yet because it is first of its kind. NASA will use the data to show the effect space has on the human body. The data collected from this research may be able to aid in future human health studies and will add to the current knowledge of genetics. The information collected from this experiment may shed light on the way people think about the
genetic processes.  This new opportunity to compare the effects of spaceflight and observe the changes in the genetic makeup between twin brothers is extremely revolutionary. I cannot wait to see the result that are produced from this amazing experiment.

2 comments:

  1. Very exciting research being performed here by NASA! I remember reading about this in the past and if I remember correctly, both of the brothers have already spent extended periods of time in space. I can not help but wonder if the experiment can lack validity for that reason.

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  2. I think this is a very interesting area of research especially since they want to send that group of humans to Mars. It would be very important for these people to maintain their health and have the ability to strengthen their muscles. It is also interesting to notice the differences in DNA between to identical twin brothers. Is it possible that the one brother has more mutations because of the exposure to more radiation?

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