A duo of researchers from the University of Lethbridge are part of a crew looking into the long-term effects of space travel.
Dr. Gerlinde Metz is from the university’s Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, while Tony Montina is with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
They are part of a team of global researchers led by Dr. Afshin Beheshti from the University of Pittsburgh and are the only Canadians in the group.
Dr. Metz and Montina previously led a team of U of L students in working with NASA to analyze blood samples from astronauts on International Space Station missions.
“This groundbreaking work has the potential to significantly advance the understanding of the biological pathways that determine health outcomes associated with human spaceflight,” says Metz, who also co-leads the Metabolomics Platform of the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre with Montina.
“Considering the enormous physical and physiological strain induced on the human body by spaceflight, this research is both timely and necessary as societies prepare for longer periods of space travel.”
The Human Adaptation to Spaceflight study will see the team dive into data collected over 12 years on the ISS [International Space Station] involving upwards of 70 astronauts. The researchers will determine the main factors that affect astronauts during spaceflight.
Health impacts can include bone loss, cardiovascular disease, renal issues like kidney stones, disruption of circadian rhythms, potential cancer risks, and eye disorders.
“Understanding the integrated human system response to spaceflight will exponentially increase our understanding of the risks and potential countermeasures for space travellers,” says Dr. Beheshti, who serves as director of the Center of Space Biomedicine, associate director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
Officials explain that spaceflight impacts mitochondria, which generate energy to power the cell, as well as other tasks like cellular differentiation and controlling the cycle, growth and death of a cell. Researchers suspect that spaceflight disrupts mitochondrial activity. That in turn affects many aspects of the health of astronauts.
“We are excited to conduct research as part of this international group,” says Metz. “The work we are doing will help us understand how spaceflight affects our bodies and, in addition, how stress can affect those of us who never leave the bounds of Earth.”
This project is set to use the largest available amount of astronaut data in one analysis and produce new insight into the human response to space travel. Additionally, team members will use a new machine-learning technique to predict possible drugs that could target the key factors impacted by spaceflight and diminish the metabolic changes that happen.
