Stem Cells Behave Very Differently In Space, Study Says
Living in Space Has Its Perils A new study sheds light on some of the health hazards of living in space. NASAResearch has implications for long-term spaceflight, future space procreation Human stem cells grown in a simulated microgravity environment develop differently than those grown under normal conditions, an Australian study has found. The finding could have implications for space colonization and long-term spaceflight. Using a NASA-developed rotating vessel that simulates microgravity, an Australian whiz-kid researcher found the stem cells' protein expressions were vastly different than when grown in normal Earth gravity, Discovery News reports. About 64 percent of the proteins found in the microgravity cells were not present in control samples. The microgravity cells contained proteins involved in the breakdown of bone and the regulation of calcium, neither of which were found in regular, Earth-gravity cells. Embryonic stem cells can differentiate into any of the body's hundreds of cell...