NASA has announced the selection of 10 investigations for a study of identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly.
Even though NASA's Human Research Project been researching the effects of spaceflight on the human body for decades, on March 7, it was revealed that NASA has selected 10 investigations to provide it with "broader insight" into the effects and changes that could take place in spaceflight, compared to Earth-based environments, according to a NASA press release.
NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) will both manage this new challenge.
"We realized this is a unique opportunity to perform a class of novel studies because we had one twin flying aboard the International Space Station and one twin on the ground," said Craig Kundrot, Ph.D. and deputy chief scientist of NASA's Human Research Program, according to the press release. "We can study two individuals who have the same genetics, but are in different environments for one year."
The investigations were picked from a pool of 40 proposals to "introduce" to space physiology the field of -omics, which is the study of DNA, RNA, and the "entire complement of biomolecules in the human body," according to NASA.
NASA will be able to investigate the changes, or the lack thereof, between the brothers at this level, after Scott's year in space and Mark's year on Earth. This should be able to provide some information on the nature vs. nurture aspect that spaceflight has on the human body.
"This is a unique opportunity for the agency," said Kundrot. "The investigations are a pathfinder for the agency with regard to the study of astronaut physiology.
Studies will focus on four main areas: behavioral health, human physiology, microbiology/microbiome, and molecular or -omics studies.
-Behavioral health investigations will allow NASA to characterize the effects spaceflight might have on "perception and reasoning, decision making and alertness," according to the press release.
-Human physiological investigations will let them look at how the spaceflight environment could cause changes in different organs, like the heart or brain, inside the body.
-The microbiology/microbiome investigations will explore the differences between the twin's diet and stressors to learn how the diets affect the organisms in the twins' guts.
-NASA also expects to open a "new realm of information" about humans exposed to the spaceflight environment are "the molecular" or -omics investigations.
The one-year mission has been set for 2015.
"This pilot project will, for the first time in space, integrate physiology with 21st century -omics techniques currently performed at leading medical schools and hospitals," said Graham Scott, NSBRI chief scientist, according to NASA.
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