[HN Gopher] Genes down-regulated in spaceflight are involved in ...
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Genes down-regulated in spaceflight are involved in longevity in C.
elegans
Author : Hooke
Score : 69 points
Date : 2022-12-18 20:43 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
| politician wrote:
| Finally, a rationale for space tourism! Much like the hot springs
| on Earth, a trip to orbit extends lifespan (in bacteria). I, for
| one, cannot wait to see this breathlessly hyped in the science
| press. Step aside blood transfusions from teens to the elderly,
| there's a new fountain of youth in town.
| abledon wrote:
| I like to pay an extra 50 Million, for the "Deluxe" package
| where there are 10 extra boosters on my ship and I go 20x
| Faster, and age _even slower_ while travelling faster than my
| colleagues.
| robertlagrant wrote:
| I only go for the space "treatments". Calling it that doubles
| the price, but you can so totally tell the difference.
| Melatonic wrote:
| I wonder, however, if after spending significant time in space
| and then returning to Earth if the benefits reverse. Or if it
| even has a negative outcome. It could be that if you stay in
| space longevity is increased but after returning to Earth the
| bacteria has trouble re-adjusting ?
| pazimzadeh wrote:
| Space travel weakens the immune system
|
| https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-90458-2
|
| https://biosignaling.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1478...
|
| So maybe it's a good idea for people with chronic
| inflammation/auto-immunity
| setgree wrote:
| Having recently finished 'Project Hail Mary,' I am of course
| inclined to see this as evidence for the panspermia hypothesis!
|
| If our very distant ancestors evolved to hitch a ride on a comet,
| they'd probably need a mechanism for slowing or suspending aging
| while they traveled in zero-g.
|
| We also know that nematodes can be revived after a very long
| period of hibernation [0].
|
| This doesn't quite fit in with our current story of evolution,
| but then, I personally have no idea what the weakest empirical
| links in that story are.
|
| [0] https://nypost.com/2018/07/30/scientists-just-
| brought-40000-...
| ambicapter wrote:
| It's amazing how the body is reacting to a high DNA damage
| environment by making lifespans shorter (I'm not saying this is
| happening intentionally mind you, just that somehow the body is
| reacting "appropriately"), thus ensuring the species overall has
| a better chance, even if the individual in question is losing
| out.
| matt123456789 wrote:
| The article seems to say that aging is actually slowed in space
| (abstract: "...These results suggest that aging in C. elegans
| is slowed through neuronal and endocrine response to space
| environmental cues.")
| ambicapter wrote:
| Oops! That's what I get for not reading the link carefully.
| devmor wrote:
| That take assigns a lot of imaginative intent to a
| biomechanical process.
| ambicapter wrote:
| I literally specified that it wasn't meant to be read as
| intentional.
| devmor wrote:
| "Appropriately" vs "Intentionally" are the same thing, when
| discussing a low level process that does not have any
| inherent concept of the resulting effect you assign it to.
|
| Your comment implies intent regardless of you specifying a
| lack of intent. It's the linguistic parallel to me pouring
| water on my shirt and saying "I'm doing this without
| getting my shirt wet."
| ambicapter wrote:
| > "Appropriately" vs "Intentionally" are the same thing
|
| "Appropriately" just means, the correct course of action,
| which is totally possible to do without intention.
| JPLeRouzic wrote:
| Could it be possible to add (2012)?
| AlbertCory wrote:
| Suggestion: the Smithsonian should have giant statues of _e.
| coli_ , _Drosophila_ , and _c. elegans_. "
|
| Because these little creatures have done more for scientific
| research than anything else I can think of.
| m463 wrote:
| possibly white mice and HeLa too?
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboratory_mouse
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa
|
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Henriett...
| KasianFranks wrote:
| Connected to some of our early work in language modeling applied
| to space biosciences at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/DOE
| with Saira Mian, Michael I. Jordan and David Blei: "Statistical
| modeling of biomedical corpora: mining the Caenorhabditis Genetic
| Center Bibliography for genes related to life span"
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1533868
| ljlolel wrote:
| Or, in other words, gravity ages you.
| mattwest wrote:
| While the findings are interesting and may hold therapeutic
| potential, this is a very zoomed in perspective.
|
| We _know_ that epigenetic changes occur in microgravity and they
| occur across the entire genome. While one gene may see an
| upregulation or downregulation, it 's important to know this
| happens to many genes i.e. differentially methylated regions
| (DMRs). And these DMRs are not entirely predictable as there are
| many mechanisms associated with epigenetics. For example, two
| species at different levels of maturity may exhibit different
| DMRs in microgravity.
|
| So while we may see downregulation in one age-related gene, you
| may very well see an upregulation of the many other age-related
| genes. We'll have to find out with further inquiry.
|
| Still, very cool stuff and I hope more funding goes into
| microgravity effect on gene expression.
| gxt wrote:
| How is it possible to distinguish microgravity effects from
| radiation damage since the only place to study microgravity is
| above the atmosphere, and without similar shielding properties?
| dmicah wrote:
| I don't know anything about this research, but I imagine they
| could also expose samples on Earth to similar radiation?
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