The NASA Twins Study: A multidimensional analysis of a year-long human spaceflight
2019/04/12 by Francine E. Garrett-Bakelman, Manjula Darshi, Stefan J. Green +97 · 1,125 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Medicine · #Bioinformatics #Biology #DNA #DNA damage #DNA methylation #Gene #Gene expression #Genetics #Genome instability #Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging #High Altitude and Hypoxia #Microbiome #Physiology #Spaceflight #Spaceflight effects on biology #Telomere
paper · open access · doi:10.1126/science.aau8650
published in Science 364(6436) (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
openalex publication_date 2019/04/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
To understand the health impact of long-duration spaceflight, one identical twin astronaut was monitored before, during, and after a 1-year mission onboard the International Space Station; his twin served as a genetically matched ground control. Longitudinal assessments identified spaceflight-specific changes, including decreased body mass, telomere elongation, genome instability, carotid artery distension and increased intima-media thickness, altered ocular structure, transcriptional and metabolic changes, DNA methylation changes in immune and oxidative stress-related pathways, gastrointestinal microbiota alterations, and some cognitive decline postflight. Although average telomere length, global gene expression, and microbiome changes returned to near preflight levels within 6 months after return to Earth, increased numbers of short telomeres were observed and expression of some genes was still disrupted. These multiomic, molecular, physiological, and behavioral datasets provide a valuable roadmap of the putative health risks for future human spaceflight.
Citations
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