Space Worms Live Long and Prosper
astroengine writes "A microscopic worm used in experiments on the space station not only seems to enjoy living in a microgravity environment, it also appears to get a lifespan boost. This intriguing discovery was made by University of Nottingham scientists who have flown experiments carrying thousands of tiny Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to low-Earth orbit over the years. It turns out that this little worm has genes that resemble human genes and of particular interest are the ones that govern muscle aging. Seven C. elegans genes usually associated with muscle aging were suppressed when the worms were exposed to a microgravity environment. Also, it appears spaceflight suppresses the accumulation of toxic proteins that normally gets stored inside aging muscle. Could this have implications for understanding how human physiology adapts to space?"
I saw this pop up on the front page in real time!
I guess slashdot's javascript is good for something..
It makes me wonder if I should be eating younger animals to avoid these toxins.
Could this have implications for understanding how human physiology adapts to space?
Sure, it could. Anything could.
and eat more poo. Not sure that's really what I'd call much of a benefit.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I always wondered what kind of effect zero gravity would have on animals with certain traits;
Will spiderwebs look the same?
Does a fish swim differently in a floating body of water?
Will a bird adapt to floating without wind?
Will ants be able to place scent trails in mid air?
The list goes on.
Since these critters also happen to be invertebrates, they also don't suffer from bone loss in that same weightless environment. It was my understanding that muscle atrophy in astronauts was a secondary worry when compared to the severity of bone loss during extended missions without gravity.
I guess we need to engineer some "spacer" humans who have cartilage in place of bones? Spineless they might be, but I wouldn't wanna wrestle with one.
The error is already in the source, but scientific names of organisms should be written in italic.
I heard that people like you existed in theory, but never actually saw one in the wild. Go whine yourself into a grave.
I for one welcome our microgravity flourishing worm overlords!
As I understand it, in this latest experiment, they flew some worms in space, killed them (flash frozen with liquid nitrogen) and compared them with a control group on earth and then
"... identified seven genes, which were down-regulated in space and whose inactivation extended lifespan under laboratory conditions..."
You can read more here.
However, more amazing than worm just living longer, is how worms survived the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster (their progeny were discovered in the wreckage a few weeks later)...
Obviously things like the magnetic pathfinding of birds would be useless in space.
Why? There's plenty of mag field in space - especially near-Earth space. If the habitat keeps a constant orientation with respect to the mag field and is built to allow it to penetrate the birds will have no problem. If not, a habitat large enough for it to matter, where magnetic-navigating birds are intended to fly free, will have a deliberately-generated field to keep them from becoming confused.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
It's because of the geriatric properties of the spice!
Dundundun dunt! Dundundun dunt!
Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people.
Anyone else immediately think of Han Solo ditching the Millennium Falcon in a space slug?
How many generations have the worms been up there for? I would theorise that under cosmic, solar and van allen radiation there is strong evolution pressure to deal better with radiation and thus free radicals, wheen in space. This would lead any organism evolved in space, to have, better anti-aging mechanism than earth bound mortals. I would think this would even work on humans, and would think that human from the year 3000, who had 40 generations in space would be much longer living than earth humans.
Are you a worm? Are you in space? Then the SPAA is for YOU! Hint hint....
If we have to stick these worms in our ears to take advantage of this discovery, I'll pass.
... you don't lose it, essentially. If the worm is mainly a string of muscle and the muscles aren't being used, then they last longer? What this makes me wonder is, if you exercise is there a trade-off between the waste your body accumulates from "muscle sweat" (can you tell I'm not a biologist? I'm not any kind of -ist. I only arrived here because I thought it was for sexy stories about people called "Dot". Like "Dot Cotton" and... and... look it was an ill-conceived idea from the start but I'm here now.) and the cardiovascular benefits? For instance, body-builders who like to tear up their muscles may be hurting their longevity.
Will my Healthcare insurance cover a healthy trip into space?
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
"There was a garden grove on Cit-Cit-Citadel Station...."
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."