Space Worms Live Long and Prosper

Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 9, 2012 @10:24AM from the tell-him-about-the-worms dept.

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?"

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Use Bill Gates' money for HUMANS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-09 10:33 · Score: -1, Troll

I know this project was probably not funded by B and M Gates Foundation, but just think if we, as a society, used Bill Gates money to put PEOPLE into space that LIVE LONG...AND PROSPER!!! Why does our society not LEGALLY justify confiscating Bill Gates unimaginable vast resources to do for people what space has done for worms? We could redistribute his wealth to find out how to live long alongside worms in space, and for us to not do so for the greater good CONDEMNS us to HELL!