NASA Twins Study
The NASA Twins Study (dt. " NASA -Zwillingsstudie") was a research project of the Human Research Program at NASA in the years 2015-2016. The HRP searches for information, methods and technologies to improve the survivability and health of people in space.
Purpose and implementation
There is little knowledge, especially about long-term stays in space - essential for future missions. Until the 2000s, only six people had spent more than 300 days in space. Therefore, the twins study was carried out on the identical twins Scott Joseph Kelly and Mark Edward Kelly , who were 50 years old at the time , both experienced astronauts. Scott spent 340 days on the ISS , his brother stayed on Earth. Before, during and 6 months after Scott's mission, hundreds of blood, urine and stool samples were taken, body functions measured, ultrasound images and the results of cognitive tests recorded .
Results
The results were published in Science magazine in 2019 . They are naturally complex. The 84 scientific authors and the NASA infographics summarize them under ten keywords that are common in modern biology and suggest a comprehensive analysis (for example of the entire proteome ) (in fact, only individual parameters were singled out in each case).
Main results:
- Cognition : Scott tended to solve the test tasks better in space than on Earth, but worse after the stress of landing, and for 6 months afterwards.
- Biochemistry : Scott's body weight dropped in space and returned to normal after landing.
- Proteomics : His body water redistributed; Reversible swellings that interfered with vision developed in the eyes.
- Telomeres: The telomeres became significantly longer in space, became shorter again after landing, and remained shorter until the end of the study.
- Gene expression : There were lasting differences here; the active astronaut suffered measurably more DNA damage from ionizing radiation than his brother. The effective dose measured on the flight was 146 mSv .
- Epigenomics : The methylation of the DNA, on the other hand, was equally pronounced in both test subjects.
- Metabolome : Scott's carotid artery wall became thicker as an expression of inflammation .
- Integrated omics: The laboratory values also indicated a non-specific inflammatory reaction.
- Immunology : The T cells responded to a flu shot in space as well as on Earth.
- Microbiome : The intestinal flora of the two brothers was constantly different, it hardly changed in space.
Since the study’s intervention and control groups only consisted of one person, it is not possible to make statements about causality - every single difference between the two could also be coincidental. Nevertheless, the authors see their study as a valuable contribution to the formation of hypotheses .
The researchers draw the conclusion that the changes in the human organism during long space flights can be controlled, especially since they usually regress quickly. However, there were parameters that had not normalized in the returned astronaut by the end of the study, namely the radiation-induced mutations , the shortening of the telomeres with the risk of premature aging, and the cognitive function, which must be taken into account in future missions.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nasa twins: In space, the genes fly . In: FAZ.net of March 26, 2018
- Jump up ↑ Francine E. Garrett-Bakelman, Manjula Darshi, Stefan J. Green, Ruben C. Gur, Ling Lin: The NASA Twins Study: A multidimensional analysis of a year-long human spaceflight . In: Science . tape 364 , no. 6436 , April 12, 2019, ISSN 0036-8075 , doi : 10.1126 / science.aau8650 , PMID 30975860 ( sciencemag.org [accessed May 23, 2020]).