Zero Gravity, Zero Gain: The Genetics Behind Muscle Loss in Space

Simulated microgravity in mice reveals a constellation of genes that may influence muscle weakening during spaceflight.

Kamal Nahas, PhD Jan 29, 2024 | 4 min read

Floating through the weightlessness of space, astronauts seldom need to flex their muscles. Slowly diminishing in size and strength, their wasting muscles struggle to support their weight when they return to Earth.¹ Space travel’s next frontiers require long-haul odysseys, leaving scientists to contend with the toll of prolonged spaceflight on human anatomy. “Some people lose a ton of bone and muscle, and other individuals lose very little, so that suggests that, not surprisingly, genetic diversity plays a role,” said Henry Donahue, a biomedical scientist at Virginia Commonwealth University. Reporting in npj Microgravity, Donahue and his team placed genetically distinct mice in simulated gravity to explore whether genes influence muscle loss.² They found that some mice were more susceptible to muscle loss, but they spotted three genes that showed disrupted expression across all strains.

“Clearly this has implications for spaceflight and any future plans on inhabiting any sort of planets, including Mars,” said Stefan Judex, a biomedical engineer at Stony Brook University who was not involved with the work. However, Judex noted, “It must be viewed as a first step simply because this is a mouse study and not a human study.” 

In a previous animal study, scientists searched for the genetic culprits behind muscle weakening, but they used a single strain in order to limit unexplainable variation in the results.³ “That’s like doing a clinical trial on one person,” Donahue noted. Instead, his team used eight genetically distinct mouse strains to explore muscle loss across a diverse population.

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https://www.the-scientist.com/news/zero-gravity-zero-gain-the-genetics-behind-muscle-loss-in-space-71612