The Omics of Space Travel

Mining & Minerals - Evaluations / Mineral Exploration Activities - General

Date posted: 11/15/15

NASA reports that the human body is incredibly complex. Every part of us ... from our bones to our blood cells ...is subject to a host of chemical reactions and molecular interactions that, without our conscious effort, keep us alive. But what happens to these processes when we leave the planet? In Earth orbit and beyond, where gravity is counteracted by a constant state of freefall and cosmic radiation intensifies, the molecular inner-workings of the human body may change. To find out how, NASA has entered a realm of bio-research known as omics. Omics refers to the collection of data on the medley of microcosms that regulate our bodies at a molecular level. Things that work with the metabolism are grouped underneath the term metabolome. All of the lipids in the body are called the lipidome. All of the proteins ....proteome. NASA has launched a one-year study to understand the omics of space travel, says Craig Kundrot, Ph.D. in the Office of the Chief Scientist at NASA Headquarters. Astronauts are spending a year on the International Space Station, and we are looking at what happens to them on the molecular level. This project is really two projects ... First, there is the Twins Study. NASA has twin astronauts .. One of them, Mark Kelly (retired), is staying on Earth while his brother, Scott Kelly, orbits Earth. For one year, Mark and Scott will be poked, prodded, and questioned to learn if the omics of identical twins show more significant differences than normal aging would cause after one of them spends a year in space. At the same time, Scott Kelly is involved in a separate project called the One Year Mission. Unlike previous expeditions to the space station, which lasted only 6 months, Scott Kelly is spending a full year onboard the station alongside Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. This One Year Mission has its own battery of tests designed to reveal the physiological effects of long-term space flight. This approach could reveal the links.