A team of scientists say they may have found a new way to palliate one of the most dangerous complications of space travelling : the unbendable and inevitable going of bone mass . In new research published this week , the team ’s experimental treatment was able-bodied to encourage bone growth in mice living aboard the International Space Station for at least nine weeks , seemingly with no untoward effect . More subject will be want to formalize this treatment before it can be used in humans , however .
Fun as being nearly weightless might seem , the microgravity surroundings of quad can have profoundly negative effects on our bodies if we stay up there too long . Our off-white in peculiar in reality depend on unconstipated mechanical stress to stay healthy , much of which comes from struggle against Earth ’s gravity . Without this stress , the body ’s production of bone - building cellular phone ( call bone-forming cell ) starts to decelerate down . Coupled with the constant wearing down of our bones , this leads toprogressive ivory loss , which can then conjure the risk of exposure of fractures during the missionary post and peradventure even later on in life history . Astronauts can lose up to 1 % of their bone slew for every calendar month they spend in space , while recovery back on Earth can take years following a retentive tripper .
Astronauts will exercise for minute a daylight in space to stave off bone red , but it ’s a time - use up and imperfect makeshift . So finding a safe and extremely effective workaround to this job is almost for sure crucial to making long - terminal figure quad travelling a practical reality for humanity at large . investigator at the University of California at Los Angeles ( UCLA ) and the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge , Massachusetts think they ’re now one major step closer to that goal .
A x-ray image of a healthy human spine, hips, and pelvis.Image: ChooChin (Shutterstock)
Their earlier work had demo that a fussy molecule called NELL - like molecule-1 ( NELL-1 ) plays a crucial persona in aid us arise and maintain bone density . They then created a edition of NELL-1 that could last out in the body longer without losing its essence , an important consideration for space travel given how interfering astronauts can be during a commission . Lastly , they compound their NELL-1 with bisphosphonate — a class of drug already used to forbid ivory loss — to break aim bone tissue and hopefully avert the side effects see with typical bisphosphonate use .
They then test their treatment on both space - bound and land - inhabit mice , compare them to control . Some of the place mice only work up to the ISS for four - and - a - one-half week and return back to Earth , while the rest stayed and were observe for nine weeks . Those on Earth enjoyed a stay at the Kennedy Space Center . By the end of the experiment , all of the treated mice establish signs of ivory growth “ without obvious adverse health effects , ” according to the writer .
The squad ’s resolution , publishedMonday in the daybook Microgravity , are only the start of showing that this treatment can work as intended . And it will take more datum to genuinely confirm the drug ’s farseeing - terminus safety and effectiveness . However , the writer are shake up by the implications of their research and what it could think for space travel .
“ Our findings book rattling hope for the future tense of space exploration , particularly for missionary station involving extended stay in microgravity , ” suppose lead corresponding author Chia Soo in astatementfrom UCLA .
Ideally , this intervention could even have other practical United States of America , the authors note . There are plenty of aesculapian conditions on Earth that sap away our os force , such as serious osteoporosis . And it ’s not far - fetched to go for that the squad ’s molecule could help forestall musculoskeletal declension more generally .
For now , the squad is still analyzing the data from the mice that returned back to Earth — a feat in itself , since it was the first ever springy creature income tax return ( “ LAR Flight ” ) of mice accomplished by U.S. scientists .
BoneSpace medicine
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