The NASA Twins Study: A multidimensional analysis of a year-long human spaceflight

Abstract

What to expect after a year in space Space is the final frontier for understanding how extreme environments affect human physiology. Following twin astronauts, one of which spent a year-long mission on the International Space Station, Garrett-Bakelman et al. examined molecular and physiological traits that may be affected by time in space (see the Perspective by Löbrich and Jeggo). Sequencing the components of whole blood revealed that the length of telomeres, which is important to maintain in dividing cells and may be related to human aging, changed substantially during space flight and again upon return to Earth. Coupled with changes in DNA methylation in immune cells and cardiovascular and cognitive effects, this study provides a basis to assess the hazards of long-term space habitation. Science , this issue p. eaau8650 ; see also p. 127

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Affiliated Institutions

• Harvard University US
• Northwestern University US
• Rush University Medical Center US
• University of Virginia US
• University of Illinois Chicago US
• Palo Alto University US
• Stanford University US
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration US
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio US
• Wyle (United States) US
• National Space Biomedical Research Institute US
• MEI Technologies (United States) US
• University of California, San Diego US
• Physical Sciences (United States) US
• University of Bonn DE
• University of California, Davis US
• Cornell University US
• University of Pennsylvania US
• Johns Hopkins University US
• University of Washington US
• The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston US
• Colorado State University US
• Baylor College of Medicine US
• MIND Research Institute US

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