Exploration Technology: Dr. Janani Iyer, Associate NAMS Scientist Contributes to Research Publication in Cell Reports Journal
September 2022
September 6, 2022, "Artificial gravity partially protects space-induced neurological deficits in Drosophila melanogaster," was published in the Cell Reports journal authored by scientists from NASA and USRA, Siddhita Mhatre, Janani Iyer (USRA), Juli Petereit, Roberta Dolling-Boreham, Anastasia Tyryshkina, Amber Paul, Rachel Gilbert, Matthew Jensen, Rebekah J. Woolsey, Sulekha Anand, Marianne Sowa, David Quilici, Sylvain Costes, Santhosh Girirajan, Sharmila Bhattacharya. The study shows the effects of space on “model organisms,” other kinds of life that are biologically similar to humans. It also shows how fruit flies on the International Space Station suggest that space travel has an impact on the central nervous system, but that artificial gravity provides partial protection against those changes.
“Microgravity poses risks to the central nervous system, suggesting that countermeasures may be needed for long-duration space travel,” said Janani Iyer, Ph.D., Associate Scientist (USRA) “As we venture back to the Moon and on to Mars, reducing the harmful effects of microgravity will be key to keeping future explorers safe. This study is a step in the right direction to explore the protective effects of artificial gravity in space and to understand the adaptation to Earth conditions after returning from space.”
There is significant overlap between the cellular and molecular processes of fruit flies and humans. Almost 75% of the genes that cause disease in humans are shared by fruit flies, leading to scientists being able to investigate how the space environment may impact human health. Flies also have much shorter lifespans - about two months and reproduce in two weeks. The three weeks the flies spend in space is equivalent to about three decades of a human’s life, giving scientists more biological information in a shorter time span. In this study, scientists sent flies to the space station on a mission in a newly developed piece of hardware called the Multi-use Variable-gravity Platform (MVP), capable of housing flies at different gravity levels. After the flies returned to Earth, the flies were brought back to Ames for scientists to perform behavioral and biochemical tests.
This study was one of the first of its kind to take an integrated approach to how the space environment impacts the nervous system. Scientists looked at the fly behavior by observing movement of flies as they moved about in their habitat, changes at the cellular level in the fly brain, how gene expression modifications impact the nervous system, and more.
The results from this study suggest that spaceflight causes stress in the fly’s cells that lead to negative behavioral and neurological impacts, as well as changes in gene expression in the fly brain. Artificial gravity can provide temporary relief to the difficulties that microgravity in space causes on the nervous system of a fruit fly, even if there are still long-term health complications.
Artificial gravity partially protects space-induced neurological deficits in Drosophila melanogaster, Siddhita Mhatre, Janani Iyer (USRA), Juli Petereit, Roberta Dolling-Boreham, Anastasia Tyryshkina, Amber Paul, Rachel Gilbert, Matthew Jensen, Rebekah J. Woolsey, Sulekha Anand, Marianne Sowa, David Quilici, Sylvain Costes, Santhosh Girirajan, Sharmila Bhattacharya, September 6, 2022, Cell Reports Volume 40, Issue 10, 111279, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111279
