Summarizing

Moreau, Elise. (2012, Jul 9). Study reveals space travel may slow ageing process. Slash Gear. Retrieved July 7, 2012, from http://www.slashgear.com


The code for living longer may just have found by scientists who analyzed Caenorhabditis elegans worms. This species of worm is very important in space travel research because it has a lot in common with humans in the way muscles deteriorate. After a mission to the International Space Station, a study revealed five genes in the worm showed reduced activity, changing how they aged. Moreau quotes Szewczyk, who said that these genes are involved in how the metabolism adapt to the environment and that "muscle tends to shrink in space". The study also revealed that a decrease in the production of polyglutamine aggregates protein of the warms, which plays a role in the aging of the muscle, occurred. Thus, it is possible that spaceflight slows the process of ageing.