Nasa twins study confirms astronaut's dna actually changed in space

[Chris]

Evidence of evolution, adaptation to environment?

NASA TWINS STUDY CONFIRMS ASTRONAUT'S DNA ACTUALLY CHANGED IN SPACE (http://www.newsweek.com/scott-kelly-astronauts-nasa-dna-838535)


...Scott Kelly and his twin brother, Mark Kelly—also an astronaut—were the subjects of the study that sought to find out exactly what happens to the body after a year in space.

Scott stayed on the International Space Station from March 2015 to March 2016, while Mark remained on Earth. This was the final mission for Scott, who spent a total of 520 days in space during his career.
Researchers studied Scott in space psychologically and physiologically, comparing his results to those of his Earthbound brother. They looked at various proteins and evaluated the twins' cognition as part of the overall study. Ten research teams presented their preliminary findings last year at NASA’s Human Research Program 2017 Investigators' Workshop (IWS). The recent 2018 IWS saw these findings confirmed. Researchers also presented data from Scott’s time back on Earth.

The researchers linked space travel to oxygen deprivation stress, increased inflammation and striking nutrient shifts that affect gene expression. Some of these changes went back to normal within hours of landing on Earth. A few, however, still affected Scott six months after his return.

In 2017, researchers discovered that the endcaps of Scott Kelly’s chromosomes—his telomeres—had become longer while he was in space. Further testing confirmed this change, and revealed that most of the telomeres had shortened again within just two days of his return.

After landing, 93 percent of Scott Kelly’s genes returned to normal, the researchers found. The altered 7 percent, however, could indicate long-term changes in genes connected to the immune system, DNA repair, bone formation networks, oxygen deprivation and elevated carbon dioxide levels.

[Newpublius]

Evidence of evolution, adaptation to environment?

NASA TWINS STUDY CONFIRMS ASTRONAUT'S DNA ACTUALLY CHANGED IN SPACE (http://www.newsweek.com/scott-kelly-astronauts-nasa-dna-838535)
Well, there's also just more radiation, so the inference is that you have to really worry about what happens on a trip to Mars.

It isn't evolution per se, it does show that if we permanently colonized similar environments, that the background radiation would become an evolutionary pressure if it impacted survivability and/or the ability to have children.

[Chris]

Well, there's also just more radiation, so the inference is that you have to really worry about what happens on a trip to Mars.

It isn't evolution per se, it does show that if we permanently colonized similar environments, that the background radiation would become an evolutionary pressure if it impacted survivability and/or the ability to have children.


Radiation though would create more genetic mutations and thus accelerate evolution. But, right, to be evolution proper it would have to include inheritance and change the genetic population in a group. In a Mars colony perhaps.

[Trumpster]

Over a decade ago I read about a study that proved telomeres could be lengthened through diet, exercise and stress control. The diet could be either vegetarian or vegan. What was Scott's diet like on the space station? This report didn't say but it couldn't have been that good given the lack of fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthful items. That makes me think that weightlessness might have been the all important factor.

For the average American, eating the standard American diet, telomeres get shorter and shorter with age. At some point there's nothing left and that prevents old cells being replaced by new cells (cell division). That's probably why some centenarians die from no apparent cause. I knew such a man. He was 109 and died in good health. His doctor said he never had any physical ailments and never needed any prescription drugs. With no complaints he appeared to fall asleep while watching TV but his caregiver soon realized that he had died.

Note: Not all vegan or vegetarian diets are the same. Some can be healthful while other are not.

[The Xl]

That's quite fascinating.

[Shady Slim]

Evidence of evolution, adaptation to environment?

NASA TWINS STUDY CONFIRMS ASTRONAUT'S DNA ACTUALLY CHANGED IN SPACE (http://www.newsweek.com/scott-kelly-astronauts-nasa-dna-838535)




Oh great . . . another 63 genders to have shoved in my face.

[rcfieldz]

As long as the astronaut wasn't wearing make up, a wig, bra and talking differently after re entry...

[Trumpster]

7% of Scott Kelly's genes were altered, but after giving it some thought I don't think it's that strange. I think it happens all the time right here on earth. Examples: As a teenager, my mother had chestnut-brown hair, but as she got older the hair on her head turned black. As a child I had blondish hair and hazel eyes, but as I got older the hair on my head turned black and my eyes turned brown. Perhaps this was the result of altered genes? And as I pointed out above, telomeres can be lengthened through diet, exercise and stress control.

Also, twin studies have shown that twins often die of different diseases just like the rest of us in the general population. When they die of different diseases, do they still have identical genes? They should check into that, if they haven't already.

[Trumpster]

7% of Scott Kelly's genes were altered, but after giving it some thought I don't think it's that strange. I think it happens all the time right here on earth. Examples: As a teenager, my mother had chestnut-brown hair, but as she got older the hair on her head turned black. As a child I had blondish hair and hazel eyes, but as I got older the hair on my head turned black and my eyes turned brown. Perhaps this was the result of altered genes? And as I pointed out above, telomeres can be lengthened through diet, exercise and stress control.

I'd like to make a slight correction in the way I stated it above: I said Scott Kelly's genes were altered. However, what was altered was, "gene expression." Same person, same genes, different expression. :thumbsup20:

[Chris]

I'd like to make a slight correction in the way I stated it above: I said Scott Kelly's genes were altered. However, what was altered was, "gene expression." Same person, same genes, different expression. :thumbsup20:

You're right. Just reading The truth about astronaut Scott Kelly’s viral ‘space genes’ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/03/16/the-truth-about-astronaut-scott-kellys-viral-space-genes/?utm_term=.e4431e9fffc9) and it says:


...Aside from being about old news, these stories are biologically impossible. If 7 percent of Kelly's genome was altered, he would be about as different from a human as a rhesus monkey.

The actual transformation is much subtler. According to a NASA's research — which is still preliminary, with the agency expecting to publish a more complete study this year — it's not Kelly's genes that changed but how they were expressed.

Your genome dwells inside the nuclei of your cells. Think of it as an instruction manual: It is the complete set of DNA that describes the form and function of every aspect of your being, with each gene pertaining to a particular task life requires. But this manual is also like a rare book that can't be taken out of the library. It must be transcribed by enzymes, resulting in a copy of the sequence known as RNA. That RNA is then translated into proteins, the molecules that do the actual work of keeping you alive.

When Scott Kelly went into space, his DNA remained fundamentally the same. What changed was the way his DNA was transcribed and translated into functional products; the study of such shifts is called epigenetics. These epigenetic changes were likely the body's way of responding to the low gravity, oxygen deprivation, increased inflammation and diet challenges of spaceflight.

...

[MMC]

Gamma rays, huh?


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