Space Alters Gene Expression

Joseph Wu, and those who are on his team, decided to compare stem cells that remained on earth and those who traveled in space. Through the comparisons, they were able to see that the cells that migrated into space were expressing genes differently than the ones on earth. For example, there was an increase in the mitochondrial metabolism gene. They found that a total of 2,635 genes were expressed differently, whether it be upregulated or downregulated. Interestingly, some things had no change such as the cell shape.

I think that this study is extremely interesting. It's odd to think that space doesn't have an affect on cell shape, yet a humans heart changes shape. I also think that this study is extremely beneficial to science because it would be the start of many more experiments and research to come. It was 
said that astronauts have an increase risk in                                                     (iPSC/Cardiomyoctyes)
cardiovascular disease. Looking at the cells and
the changes they undergo could be very beneficial
 in finding out why they are at an increased risk as well as possibly finding a solution to that problem.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/spaceflight-alters-genes-of-human-stem-cellderived-heart-cells-66693

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2222698-spaceflight-alters-heart-cells-but-they-quickly-recover-back-on-earth/

Suffering from a broken heart? This new discovery could help.

In a very recent article written by Ana Sandoiu and published by Medical News Today, new research on regenerating heart tissue is discussed. This research was originally published in the journal Nature Communications. The study was conducted by Da-Zhi Wang from Boston M.A. and his colleagues. Continuing on from previous research conducted by Prof. Wang, the research team further expanded on the function of microRNAs in the generation of cardiomyocytes. The team identified two specific microRNA molecules which influenced the inflammatory response and cell death which follows a heart attack. These microRNA molecules are known as miR-19a and miR-19b. Experiments were conducted on mice who displayed promising results. The team intends to test the microRNAs on larger mammals and hopefully proceed to human studies. They hope this could be a revolutionary treatment and prevention of heart disease.

In America, heart disease is the leading cause of death. Heart disease can be caused by a variety of factors. A major element which causes this steep number of fatalities, is due to the hearts lack of ability to continue to proliferate new cardiomyocytes. This means that once the hearts cells are damaged they can not regenerate thus putting individuals at risk for heart failure. Our heart is the crucial for life and it deserves to be carefully cared for. However some events are out of our control. Discoveries such as these have the potential to save many people equip the heart to replace deceased cells.