Selected Discoveries from Human Research in Space That Are Relevant to Human Health on Earth

Overview

Journal NPJ Microgravity

Publisher Springer Nature

Date 2020 Mar 5

PMID 32128361

Citations 9

Authors

Mark Shelhamer

Jacob Bloomberg

Adrian LeBlanc

G Kim Prisk

Jean Sibonga

Scott M Smith

Sara R Zwart

Peter Norsk

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

A substantial amount of life-sciences research has been performed in space since the beginning of human spaceflight. Investigations into bone loss, for example, are well known; other areas, such as neurovestibular function, were expected to be problematic even before humans ventured into space. Much of this research has been research, with a primary goal of maintaining the health and performance of astronauts in space, as opposed to research to obtain fundamental understanding or to translate to medical care on Earth. Some people-scientists and concerned citizens-have questioned the broader scientific value of this research, with the claim that the only reason to perform human research in space is to keep humans healthy in space. Here, we present examples that demonstrate that, although this research was focused on applied goals for spaceflight participants, the results of these studies are of fundamental scientific and biomedical importance. We will focus on results from bone physiology, cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, and neurovestibular studies. In these cases, findings from spaceflight research have provided a foundation for enhancing healthcare terrestrially and have increased our knowledge of basic physiological processes.

Citing Articles

Considerations for oral and dental tissues in holistic care during long-haul space flights.

Bakr M, Caswell G, Hussein H, Shamel M, Al-Ankily M Front Physiol. 2024; 15:1406631.

PMID: 39055690 PMC: 11269229. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1406631.

Simulated microgravity improves maturation of cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Forghani P, Rashid A, Armand L, Wolfson D, Liu R, Cho H Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):2243.

PMID: 38278855 PMC: 10817987. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52453-1.

Space microgravity increases expression of genes associated with proliferation and differentiation in human cardiac spheres.

Hwang H, Rampoldi A, Forghani P, Li D, Fite J, Boland G NPJ Microgravity. 2023; 9(1):88.

PMID: 38071377 PMC: 10710480. DOI: 10.1038/s41526-023-00336-6.

Space Biomedicine: A Unique Opportunity to Rethink the Relationships between Physics and Biology.

Bizzarri M, Fedeli V, Piombarolo A, Angeloni A Biomedicines. 2022; 10(10).

PMID: 36289894 PMC: 9599147. DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10102633.

DI-5-Cuffs: Bone Remodelling and Associated Metabolism Markers in Humans After Five Days of Dry Immersion to Simulate Microgravity.

Linossier M, Peuriere L, Fernandez P, Normand M, Beck A, Bareille M Front Physiol. 2022; 13:801448.

PMID: 35574450 PMC: 9094410. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.801448.

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