The muscle cells briefly stayed with astronauts on the International Space Station
Shutterstock / Artsiom P
After a week in the microgravity of space, muscle cells age and their gene activity becomes similar to that of cells that have aged for years on Earth, a finding that may explain why muscle function is impaired during space travel.
We know that astronauts are at risk of losing bone density and muscle mass due to the extremely low gravity of space. Now, Gan Huang and colleagues from Stanford University in California have analyzed the effects of microgravity on the genetics of muscle cells.
