Could going into space actually make people live longer?

The idea probably seems ridiculous . We do it from the few cosmonaut who have spent prolonged periods in space that zero gravity make the trunk damp and muscle withering . But if we ’re anything like insect , space could be good for us .

Only four multitude – all Soyuz cosmonaut in the tardy 80s and early 90s – have log even an intact twelvemonth continuously in space ( technically , Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov only made it to 364.9 days , but I think we can be generous here ) , and Sergei Krikalev , the criminal record bearer for most clock time spent in blank space , has drop about 2.2 year in space over the course of six spaceflights . Those are some telling duration of sentence , and more than enough metre to see how easily the sinew can atrophy and finger cymbals can degenerate – among a lot of other serious damaging side effects – after stretch time spend in the keen weightless surface area of space .

A novel study lead by Dr. Nathaniel Szewczyk of the University of Nottingham does n’t refute any of that , but it does offer up a gravely intriguing potential complication . He and his fellow investigator have find that , in worms taken up to the International Space Station , spacefaring causes sure genes to be expressed at low levels than they would be on Earth , and toxic proteins that normally accumulate in the muscles are for the most part suppressed in space . When Dr. Szewczyk reduplicate these changes in factor expression in the dirt ball C. elegans – a metal money frequently used in quad travel research because the ways in which they suffer muscular tissue atrophy are surprisingly similar to those of human – the laboratory worm started living longer .

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Of course , we should n’t get ahead of ourselves here . Observing an event in worm in laboratory stipulation is very different from seeing the same matter in world out in blank space . Moreover , the team still is n’t totally sure what is have this seniority gist . But Dr. Szewczyk has some idea , and there ’s a decent fortune humans could enjoy this same boost in life , as he explicate in a recent statement :

“ We identified seven genes , which were down - regulated in outer space and whose deactivation extended lifespan under laboratory condition … We are not only sure , but it would come along that these genes are need in how the worm sense the surroundings and point changes in metabolism to adjust to the environment . For case , one of the genes we have identified encodes insulin which , because of diabetes , is well known to be associated with metabolic control . In worm , flies , and mouse insulin is also associate with modulation of lifespan .

As for what this means for astronauts and next space travelers , Dr. Szewcyzk could only speculate :

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“ Most of us know that brawn tend to shrink in space . These latest results intimate that this is almost certainly an adaptative reaction rather than a pathological one . Counter - intuitively , muscle in space may get on better than on Earth . It may also be that spacefaring slows the process of aging . ”

Again , it ’s hard to say how much this effect would really show up in humans . Even granting that these metabolic processes in worms would work the same way in humankind , space travel is known to cause some serious problems with the resistant and cardiovascular systems , which are moderately damn crucial , even by the banner of the body ’s biological systems .

And for any spacefaring outside the immediate vicinity of Earth , there ’s the plaguy take of cosmic radiation , the harmful effects of which could very easily drown any slowing of the aging process . But if and when humans mint out on decades - long journeys to other ace , it ’s a pretty cool thought that infinite itself might keep those adventurer alive long enough to hit their destinations .

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