NASA announces Round Worms will Replace Astronauts!!!!
That got your attention right? :P But I am not making it up :P
NASA Science News for May 23, 2015
The common roundworm shares a surprising amount of genetic material with humans - enough, in fact, to make them good substitutes for astronauts in low-gravity medical studies.
(http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2015/05/23/splash0.jpg)
The common roundworm shares a surprising amount of genetic material with humans - enough, in fact, to make them the good substitutes for astronauts in low-gravity medical studies.
Roundworms have the Right Stuff
May 23, 2015: Humans have long been fascinated by the cosmos. Ancient cave paintings show that we've been thinking about space for much of the history of our species. The popularity of recent sci-fi movies suggest that the human mind just might be coming to grips with theharsh environment "out there."
The human body is another matter.
When gravity is greatly reduced—as in spaceflight—we no longer use our muscles to resist the usual pull of a planetary mass, and, without additional exercise astronauts lose both bone and muscle. Additionally, studies have shown that other parts of the body change in space like the bend of the spine, the amount of blood in the body and eyesight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8wVRZwL_Qc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8wVRZwL_Qc
As we are now, prolonged voyages into outer space may be limited by our physical abilities...but a tiny new astronaut could provide much-needed insight into the ways that our bodies behave in microgravity: the noble roundworm.
It may come as a blow to the ego, but roundworms—or Caenorhabditis elegans—share a considerable amount of genetic material with humans. Enough, in fact, to make them the good candidates for a new study designed to determine how low-gravity environments affect astronauts.
Roundworms, like fruit flies, are often used as models for larger organisms. This is because their short lifespans allow for scientists to observe several generations of worms within a short period of time, yielding quicker results for studies. In a new investigation entitled Alterations of C. elegans Muscle Fibers by Microgravity, crew members of the International Space Station will grow two batches of worms: one in microgravity and one in a centrifuge, allowing the worms to experience simulated gravity. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is spearheading the investigation.
"The astronauts will cultivate multiple generations of the organism, so we can examine the organisms in different states of development," says Atsushi Higashitani, principal investigator for the experiment with Tohoku University in Miyagi, Japan. "Our studies will help clarify how and why these changes to health take place in microgravity and determine if the adaptations to space are transmitted from one cell generation to another without changing the basic DNA of an organism."
The results from the experiment could impact more people than just future astronauts. Understanding the molecular changes that potentially take place in microgravity could help researchers to develop treatments and therapies to counteract physical changes associated with aging and extended bed rest. The roundworm may be surprisingly important for the elderly and infirm population of Earth, as well as to the astronauts orbiting it.
On April 14th, the space worms launched to the International Space Station on SpaceX's sixth resupply mission.
For more news about roundworms and other unexpected space travelers, stay tuned to science.nasa.gov.
Credits:
Author: Rachel Molina | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2015/23may_roundworms/
years ago there was another sensational headline from Canada I posted it on the website... but here is the original
Space worms land in B.C., after hopping shuttle
CBC News Posted: Jun 25, 2007 2:08 PM ET
(http://i.cbc.ca/1.1938787.1383020360!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_300/space-worms-cp-3124820.jpg)
Thousands of worms that hitched a ride to Earth on the shuttle Atlantishave arrived safelyat a B.C. university, where they could shed light on how space radiation affects humans.
The worms landed with the shuttle Friday afternoon at Edwards Air Force Base in California, six months after their ancestors — now long dead — were sent to the International Space Station.
"The worms are at the lab and appear to be fine," molecular biologist Bob Johnsen told CBC News on Monday.
The wormswere sent tothe space stationto multiply rapidly, a special skill of the C. elegans worm, so Johnsen and his research team at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby could examine their descendants' genes for mutations.
"We are looking for damage to DNA caused by space radiation," Johnsen told CBC News.
The goal is to relate the information to potential effects on humans, who — from a scientific perspective — have a lot in common with the pencil-tip-sized wrigglers.
"Both genomes have been sequenced and comparisons show that at least 50 per cent of genes are similar and therefore probably have similar functions. That includes DNA repair systems," said Johnsen.
"The worms have the basics of higher organisms— muscle, gut, nervous system, skin, complex reproductive system.The worm is transparent and the entire cell lineage is known," he said.
"We can take DNA from worms from space and run it against a chip [DNA microarray] to see if there is any damage."
It will take several months before they can draw any conclusions.
Each C. elegans worm lives only a week or two, but itsoffspring number in the hundreds.
While worms and other creatures have made their homes on the International Space Station before, this is the longest duration and the first time many generations have developed in space.
In 2003, C. elegans worms being used for other research were found intact in the wreckage of the Columbia space shuttle.
The Simon Fraser researchers are among several groups studying the worms. Some of the observers included students who watched them during the six-month voyage using special cameras set up on the space station.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/space-worms-land-in-b-c-after-hopping-shuttle-1.660109
Seems they mutate in a very short time :P
So is it smart to bring them back here?
Hmmm Way to go NASA get rid of the Astronauts and use Mutating Worms instead
8)