'Dark Genes' Rise - A Terrifying Threat When Humans Travel to Space

Microgravity affects astronauts' bones, muscles, and eyesight, and causes stem cells in the body to age rapidly. Notably, this process is associated with the activation of hidden DNA segments deep in the genome, also known as 'dark genes'.

A new study shows that human stem cells tend to age faster in space. The discovery helps scientists better understand the challenges the body faces during long-term spaceflight - Photo: Futurism

The experiments were conducted during four SpaceX-operated resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) between late 2021 and early 2023.

Stem cells are present throughout the body and have the ability to self-renew or transform into blood, bone, and brain cells, playing a role in maintaining and repairing life. However, when in space, this function is significantly reduced.

"In the space environment, stem cells gradually lose their ability to regenerate and recover. This is important information to grasp for long-term space missions," Professor Catriona Jamieson, director of the Sanford Stem Cell Institute (USA), emphasized.

The work, which was partly funded by NASA and published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, is also the first to directly observe how stem cells function in low Earth orbit, in real time.

To monitor, the team built a bioreactor, a phone-sized device with an integrated AI monitoring system. Bone marrow stem cells, taken from hip replacement patients, were placed on a sterile scaffold and flown to the ISS.

Normally, stem cells "sleep" up to 80% of the time to maintain energy. But in space, they no longer rest, constantly work and quickly become exhausted.

"When stem cells wake up, they don't go back to sleep, which causes their function to decline. If they are depleted under pressures like microgravity, the immune system will no longer function well," Jamieson explains.

Some cell samples survived up to 45 days on the ISS, but due to overwork, they burned through their energy reserves, aged rapidly, and gradually lost the ability to produce new cells.

This phenomenon is also linked to the activation of “dark genes”, repetitive DNA segments that make up 55% of the human genome. These are remnants of retroviruses that invaded our ancestors’ bodies thousands of years ago.

“Under extreme pressure, these genes are awakened. They push stem cells into a spiral of degradation, crisis and rapid aging,” said Jamieson.

She compared this process to what she observed in pre-leukemia patients, where stem cells also become stressed and are at risk of transforming into leukemia.

On the bright side, preliminary data suggests that stem cells can regenerate when astronauts return to Earth, although the process could take up to a year. This could open up new possibilities for not only protecting health in space, but also for treating cancer and degenerative diseases on Earth.

"These findings suggest that long-term flights can weaken the immune and blood systems. At the same time, they help us better understand the aging mechanism to develop therapies to slow or reverse this process," said Dr. Arun Sharma (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA).

Knowing the risks from the low-orbit environment in advance allows us to develop prevention strategies, while also bringing medical advances to patients on Earth, according to researchers.

Back to topic

MINH HAI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gene-toi-troi-day-moi-de-doa-dang-so-khi-con-nguoi-du-hanh-vu-tru-20250913120537683.htm