What Happens to the Human Body in Space?

In the largest study of its kind, scientists are coming closer to understanding exactly how space affects the human body.

Back in 2019, NASA published the first ever space twin study. This compared twins Mark and Scott Kelly before, during, and after Scott spent 340 days in space—that’s the longest any U.S. astronaut has consecutively spent in spaceflight—while Mark stayed here on Earth. That study gave us so much insight into how the human body changes in microgravity: from telomere shortening to gut microbiome changes to rapid alteration of gene expression. It also told us there was still so much to learn...and 2020 delivered.

A set of nineteen new studies builds on the results of the Kelly Twins study, reanalyzing some of that data and comparing those results to measurements between 56 astronauts in total. Plus ten more papers are in pre-print now, being reviewed and set for publication soon to add even more to this data set. This is the largest study of its kind, the most information EVER collected about what happens to the human body in space.

The researchers have identified, for the first time, a core set of mammalian adaptations in response to spaceflight. We see these changes across species: humans, mice and other animals. The biggest one? Mitochondrial dysfunction. You may think of the mitochondria as that famous ‘powerhouse of the cell’—it generates most of the energy a cell needs and so enables the proper function of all your tissues and organs. And as you might imagine, keeping your mitochondria working is pretty important. Using new techniques that allowed a really in-depth look at changes in the astronauts’ genomes and protein expression, mitochondrial changes were consistent across the dataset. And even though the scientists are still unsure what EXACTLY may be the underlying cause of this mitochondrial disturbance, they think it’s likely oxidative stress caused by the extreme environment of space. This, essentially, is damage caused to cells by stress. Stress releases these harmful compounds called reactive oxygen species, causing genetic changes that, in turn, cause changes in metabolic pathways.

#NASA #astronauts #MarkKelly #ScottKelly #science #seeker #elements

Read More:

Space travel can seriously change your brain
"Since the days of the shuttle program to today, astronauts have reported issues with vision after traveling to space. Medical evaluations on Earth have revealed that astronauts' optic nerves swell and some experience retinal hemorrhage and other structural changes to their eyes."

What happens to an astronaut's body in space
"The immune system also takes a hit. Researchers discovered that a lack of gravity weakens the functions of T cells, which play a crucial role in fighting off diseases."

Spaceflight does some weird things to astronauts’ bodies
"he Kelly twins offered scientists a rare opportunity: as they studied what happened to Scott’s body during his year in space, they had the benefit of a control subject, Mark, who stayed on Earth."
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[Rugged-Mongol]

*"So what's your relationship status?" Me, "**2:45**."*

[keatonsmith]

The mitochndria is the power house of the cell🤤

[InMaTeofDeath]

Naomi Nagata dislikes the timing of this video.

[infinitumneo]

A study of space habitability with artificial gravity would be interesting, such as the gateway project (using a spinning wheel to produce artificial gravity). Our bodies need some form of gravity, even if it's centrifugal in nature.

[kezzaman]

Maybe this "oxidative stress" is what drives/accelerates adaptation and evolution ?

[CodeLeeCarter]

much easier to listen to than the other presenters, ... thank you.

[nguyen]

"Off the Earth, for the Earth"
- NASA slogan -

[ammh]

The easy to understand explanation is perfectly presented by the narrator.

[colbymoore]

This is one of my favorite topics really cool

[bfball]

I thought this will be about how human body puffs in space when naked :D

[_percent]

born just in time to witness mars colonization

[MilesMorrisDrums]

Fascinating information. Very well done

[sanicanadkarni]

Even though we are progressing ... I somehow feel that humans may not be able to handle space they did, we would have born in space

[AbhishekSharma-gtim]

Thanks for informing but it will only useful for me when Elon gives tickets to go to space for tourism 😂😀😎

[Aragorn]

The answer for all science questions are either graphene or Dyson Spheres/Swarms.

[joshlockie]

Telomeres don’t shorten, they wrinkle up. This can be undone. This channel is 10 years behind.

[waitwhat]

I see a lack of proper education as one of the biggest issues facing humanity’s future, maybe do an episode on how to do proper research, how to not get mislead or even on how people can accidentally mislead themselves through imagination and how it’s not entirely bad

[Omnifarious]

I think we need a similar study to the Scott and Mark Kelly study, except with female astronauts. There may be significant differences.

Except, I forgot, there is no biological differences between men and women. Nevermind.

[bostonquad]

I didn't know when astronauts come back from space they can't drive for 3 weeks until a doctor signs off on it cuz their balance is off

[Cheekymukka]

Thank you for a great video, I would like you to cover a topic on Luna habitat with its own gravity. Possibly some form of centrifugal habitat.