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[Spyxos]

Over the course of just one month in space, engineered human heart tissue got weaker, its ‘beating’ patterns became irregular and it underwent molecular and genetic changes that mimicked the effect of ageing. The study offers a useful means of identifying the molecular pathways behind the detrimental effects of spaceflight on the human heart, says Joseph Wu, a cardiologist at Stanford University in California.

Microgravity can be hard on the body, and astronauts exposed to it have experienced cardiovascular changes, such as an irregular heartbeat. But unpicking the effects on the heart of long-duration spaceflight — that lasting for months at a time — and the molecular changes that underpin those changes has remained out of reach, says study co-author Deok-Ho Kim, a biomedical engineer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. “It’s not possible to do the different molecular and functional studies in human astronauts,” he says.

A ‘heart’ on a chip​

To overcome this challenge, Kim and his colleagues sent engineered heart tissue to the International Space Station (ISS) for 30 days. To engineer the tissue, the researchers coaxed human induced pluripotent stem cells — which act as blank canvases that can differentiate into any cell type — to develop into human heart muscle cells. The team then strung sets of six tissue samples between pairs of posts. One post in each pair was flexible, allowing the samples to contract like a beating heart. The system, which they call a heart-on-a-chip, was housed in a chamber about half the size of a cellphone.

Once the heart-on-a-chip system was on board the ISS, Kim and his colleagues used sensors to monitor the strength of the tissues’ contraction and beating patterns in real time. For comparison, they monitored another set of tissue samples that remained on Earth.

After 12 days on the ISS, the tissues’ contraction strength had almost halved, whereas that of their on-ground counterparts had remained relatively stable. This weakening was still apparent even after nine days of recovery back on Earth. In space, the tissues’ beats also became more irregular over time, with the period between each beat increasing by more than five times at day 19. But this irregularity disappeared after the samples came back to Earth. This suggests that NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore — who have been stuck on the ISS for months owing to technical problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — are probably experiencing cardiovascular stress that will resolve after they return to Earth, say Wu.

Genetic changes​

After getting the tissues back from space, Kim and his colleagues used transmission electron microscopy to look at the samples’ sarcomeres — strands of proteins responsible for muscle contractions. After being in orbit for a month, these protein bundles had become shorter and more disordered compared with those in the tissues that had remained on the ground. The mitochondria — the energy-producing machinery inside cells — had also become swollen and fragmented.

When the researchers sequenced the tissue samples’ RNA, they found an increase in the expression of genes and signalling pathways associated with inflammation and heart disorders in tissues that had travelled on the ISS. Meanwhile, genes that produce proteins required for normal heart contraction and mitochondrial function showed signs of reduced expression.

Although the study’s heart-on-a-chip approach is innovative, it doesn’t capture other important cardiovascular changes that can occur in the human heart, such as pressure in the arteries, says Wu. But he adds that a similar set-up could be useful for studying how other organs fare under microgravity and harsh radiation levels. “The platform’s ability to function in a microgravity setting whilst maintaining tissue viability is a major advantage,” he says.

Kim and his colleagues are planning to send other heart and organ tissues into space for a longer period to investigate the effects of spaceflight more deeply. They also hope to test drugs that can counteract some of the impacts of microgravity on the heart.

The human heart shows signs of ageing after just a month in space

Researchers sent engineered heart tissue to the International Space Station and measured how it faired.

www.nature.com

 

[cormack12]

So glad I didn't become an astro right now

 

[CompleteGlobalSaturation]

So glad I didn't become an astro right now

Same. Becoming an astronaut was a dream of mine as a child.

Ultimately it's a death sentence.

 

[Lukaku's First Touch]

This is the reason why I quit astronaut school and I now work a job as a 7/11 cashier.

 

[Liljagare]

Glad to know we're not designed to be space travellers by some ancient alien..

 

[RagnarokIV]

Alien Romulus space cancer is real.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Stupid meat bodies are way too squishy and prone to biological failure/mutations. It is damn near the year of our lord 2025, where are the cyborg bodies that can free me from this weak, fleshy sack of vulnerabilities.

 

[GymWolf]

Thank god i was too stupid and lazy to study for the international space academy here in sicily.

 

[YuLY]

Probably why we need artificial gravity if we ever wanna get serious about interstellar travel. But even floaty ships will get us to Mars so theres that, kinda hyped to see a human on Mars in our lifetime.

 

[Pejo]

Man, this along with the study that shows space radiation fucks your kidneys isn't a great starting point for space travel for humans.

Drones it is for the foreseeable future then, I guess.

 

[MrA]

Glad to know we're not designed to be space travellers by some ancient alien..

No you were clearly sabotaged by ancient aliens to stop you from space traveling, duh

 

[nightmare-slain]

.

 

[AJUMP23]

Where is the space isn't real guy that was on this board? I need their thoughts on this.

 

[nightmare-slain]

.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

(Joke about my near miss of becoming an astronaut. Also I slept in on 9/11 so I missed both flights and meetings in both of the towers)

 

[AJUMP23]

"the moon ain't real man and don't get me started on the sun!"

I meant the other one, you are far to insane to trust.

 

[DAHGAMING]

Glad I become a heroin dealer and not this mad shit.

 

[Trilobit]

“ ... We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. ”

We really aren't meant to be spending long in space. We might be able to live on Mars some day but I think that's as far as we will get.

What we need is an O'Neill cylinder that also protects against radiation.

 

[Toots]

What we need is an O'Neill cylinder that also protects against radiation.

I call dibs on the Augmented Reaction Suit !

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Transferring our consciousness into robotic bodies is the way forward if we want to become a spacefaring civilization.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

So, our bone density reduces and our heart muscle ages rapidly. Two things detrimental to us, while traveling Space.
Edit: Now, I am curious about The Brain, blood, etc.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

So, our bone density reduces and our heart muscle ages rapidly. Two things detrimental to us, while traveling Space.
Edit: Now, I am curious about The Brain, blood, etc.

The eye is affected, I'm sure the brain is too.

Keeping an Eye on Eye Health for Deep Space Missions

...

www.bcm.edu

 

[Dirk Benedict]

What we need is an O'Neill cylinder that also protects against radiation.

Oh, shit. So that's where Mass Effect got it's idea for The Citadel. I should give Gerard K. O'Neil some of my time and read-some.

 

[digital_ghost]

So glad I didn't become an astro right now

bender and i became a astrobot.

 

[Trilobit]

Transferring our consciousness into robotic bodies is the way forward if we want to become a spacefaring civilization.

Dibs on this one!

 

[ahtlas7]

Just limit your time to 29 days / trip.

 

[IDKFA]

Transferring our consciousness into robotic bodies is the way forward if we want to become a spacefaring civilization.

Not a fan of this idea. It would remove everything that makes us human. We'd just be conscious robot husks without emotion.

There are other ways we can become a spacefaring civilisation without sacrificing our humanity.

 

[daffyduck]

Not a fan of this idea. It would remove everything that makes us human. We'd just be conscious robot husks without emotion.

There are other ways we can become a spacefaring civilisation without sacrificing our humanity.

I don’t think it would be possible anyway. A facsimile maybe, but not actually you.

 

[StueyDuck]

Eh... this experiment is a bit weird.

The human body tries to react heal and recover. Like the study itself even says they can't really do a real test on humans.

Sounds like they just sent some meat up and pumped it and saw the after effects.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Not a fan of this idea. It would remove everything that makes us human. We'd just be conscious robot husks without emotion.

There are other ways we can become a spacefaring civilisation without sacrificing our humanity.

It seems much more logical to me that we would modify ourselves instead of modifying the vast number of different environments that exist outside of earth to suit our very particular physiology.

As far as lacking emotion, I don't think there is any reason that should be the case. We're not talking about the bulky metal machines that exist today. Rather, something far more advanced and flexible.

 

[Bashtee]

The mitochondria — the energy-producing machinery inside cells — had also become swollen and fragmented.

They really tried hard not to call it the powerhouse of the cells.

 

[Zephyranthes]

Ok, but what of gravity's effect on the  soul?

 

[Pagusas]

so those Boeing astronauts stuck on the ISS get to enjoy heart damage from Boeing's fuck up too? The company that just keeps giving.

 

[IDKFA]

As far as lacking emotion, I don't think there is any reason that should be the case. We're not talking about the bulky metal machines that exist today. Rather, something far more advanced and flexible.

The reason we feel happiness, sadness, love, euphoria, anxiety etc is because of the biochemistry in our bodies and brains. Without this biochemistry we wouldn't have any emotions. You wouldn't get this complex biochemistry by just transfering the mind.

 

[MikeM]

To be expected. Our bodies were designed for consistent pressure and gravity. Take one of those major things out and bad things will happen.

We need to figure out artificial gravity of we are to get serious about space travel.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

The reason we feel happiness, sadness, love, euphoria, anxiety etc is because of the biochemistry in our bodies and brains. Without this biochemistry we wouldn't have any emotions. You wouldn't get this complex biochemistry by just transfering the mind.

This is getting a bit vague and philosophical, but what you call "the mind" and what I call "our consciousness" doesn't have to mean only "the contents of the brain". It can extend to the nervous system and other other networks within our body.

With sufficiently advanced technology, these wouldn't have to be precisely copied, but they could be emulated to a high enough degree of precision so that what we'd be transferring would be akin to a "sense of self", including equivalents to proprioception, hormonal, emotional and metabolic regulation, sensory, neurological and cognitive functions, etc.

Essentially I'm talking about transferring the "feeling that you're you". There is continuing research that suggests this may be possible some day.

Here are some videos recreating very early experiments that may have been first performed in the 19th century.

There are more advanced studies available if you want to learn more:

 

[IDKFA]

This is getting a bit vague and philosophical, but what you call "the mind" and what I call "our consciousness" doesn't have to mean only "the contents of the brain". It can extend to the nervous system and other other networks within our body.

With sufficiently advanced technology, these wouldn't have to be precisely copied, but they could be emulated to a high enough degree of precision so that what we'd be transferring would be akin to a "sense of self", including equivalents to proprioception, hormonal, emotional and metabolic regulation, sensory, neurological and cognitive functions, etc.

Essentially I'm talking about transferring the "feeling that you're you". There is continuing research that suggests this may be possible some day.

Here are some videos recreating very early experiments that may have been first performed in the 19th century.

There are more advanced studies available if you want to learn more:

Sorry mate. I'm now 5 beers deep. We'll continue tomorrow

 

[SF Kosmo]

I don't know why anyone would want to be an astronaut. Like really, you're gonna shoot me on a rocket into low orbit so I can be locked in a school bus sized tube for 6 months with no gravity? Get fucked, I would rather go to jail than go to space.

 

[Synless]

I don't know why anyone would want to be an astronaut. Like really, you're gonna shoot me on a rocket into low orbit so I can be locked in a school bus sized tube for 6 months with no gravity? Get fucked, I would rather go to jail than go to space.

Some people are meant to push the boundaries of what humans can be and do. Others like you and I are meant to churn the wheel for others ambitions.

 

[SF Kosmo]

Some people are meant to push the boundaries of what humans can be and do. Others like you and I are meant to churn the wheel for others ambitions.

The real work of space exploration is done by shooting probes and robots really far into space to check out shit we've never seen before. A bunch of twats hanging around in a tube in low orbit 250 miles away isn't "exploring space." They aren't charting the fucking galaxy, they're just losing bone mass and eating from a thoothpaste tube on the government dime.

 

[yet_another_alt]

Ok, but what of gravity's effect on the  soul?

 

[Big Baller]

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Give the term Hearts of Space a new meaning

 

[P:axMagellanic]

Space is evil lol, it won't be homo sapiens that colonises the solar system. Perhaps some genetically engineered sub species... If that is even possible

 

[TheDreadBaron]

It's just the lack of gravity, not space AIDS. We can create artificial gravity by spinning, and we can shield radiation with enough mass. Certainly not insurmountable obstacles, though I agree it's simpler to send probes. I'd like to see the next space station incorporate spin gravity, no idea what the engineering challenges would be though.

 

[DaciaJC]

Stupid meat bodies are way too squishy and prone to biological failure/mutations. It is damn near the year of our lord 2025, where are the cyborg bodies that can free me from this weak, fleshy sack of vulnerabilities.