Thanks to the gravitational force, and the effort we make to counteract its “pull”, our bones and muscles are strengthened . For this reason, prolonged stays in space, with gravity at a minimum, ends up taking its toll on the muscle and bone mass of astronauts. Something similar happens to people with mobility problems or who must undergo long periods in bed.
Two investigations promoted by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) use worms of the species Caenorhabditis elegans (a classic of scientific studies) to find out how the absence of gravity affects specifically organisms.
The first of these, currently in progress, tries to discover if the adaptations to microgravity in the cells of animals are transmitted from parents to children without changing the basic elements of their DNA. To do this, they are breeding four generations of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station, whose biological transformations are being compared with the organisms of other litters subjected to normal terrestrial gravity in a laboratory in Japan.
The second experiment is scheduled to begin this year , with the sixth refueling mission to the SpaceX aerospace station, and will thoroughly analyze the behavior of muscle fibers and the cytoskeleton of worms exposed to different levels of gravity.
The results of these studies will not only serve to establish treatments and exercises for astronauts , but also to combat muscle atrophy and loss of bone density caused by diseases, old age or prolonged periods of rest.
