Saturday, November 9, 2019

Could we live forever in Outer Space?

Could we live forever in Outer Space?
During my senior year in high school my AP Physics teacher would occasionally inform the class on new
and exciting things happening in science. One of which being NASA’s experiment with twins and
telomeres. I thought it would be fitting to write a blogpost on it.
To sum things up, a pair of twins was monitored for a year while one was in space and the other on Earth.
The results would help improve and prevent health risks associated with space flight. Things like gene
expression and the performance of the immune system were monitored. To me, the most interesting thing
discovered over the year was the change in telomere length. In the article telomeres are described as
“biomarkers of aging at the end of chromosomes.” The twin in space (Scott) was found to have longer
telomeres that returned to average length after returning home, while the twin on Earth (Mark) was found
to have stable telomeres. This information certainly is the starting point to more research and more
information. I think it is safe to joke that the increase in telomere length in space means immortal life (in
space).

3 comments:

  1. Great topic to discuss, Kelsey! I heard about the twins and the effects of one another in space and on Earth. It was fascinating to look at the results and how these two perform!

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  2. This is such an amazing thing to research. It is crazy to think you can think of almost anything to research and find the means to follow through with it. This research is next level. For the twin that went into space to have a longer telomere length, this ultimately means they can live for a longer time...does it? I wish the NASA article went into depth about how this would mean that there might be immortal life in space. I find it interesting that the twin who stayed in space did not have any psychological effects, due to lack of communication with others, and the lack of companionship that the earth twin would develop. Lastly, I find it interesting when they talk about the effects of the flu shot being the same when it was given in earth and in space. Why would it come out different? If anything the space twin should have the resistance of the flu due to not having a chance to come in contact with it.

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  3. This is very interesting, now I want to know why the twin in space had longer telomeres. its also interesting with all the talk about sending more people into space and about inhabiting mars.

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