The Journey to find a Biology Superhero against Space Travel Challenges
Millions of years ago, when an ancestor of us first looked up at the starry night sky and wondered what was beyond our sight, the journey of the exploration of space had already begun. From Greek myths of the constellations to the theories of general relativity and quantum physics, generations of pioneers lay the groundwork for our understanding of the universe, and we are for sure part of the team.
Throughout history, the human race has evolved to adapt to the environment across this giant yet tiny rock in the universe. We have Himalayans who can live at the altitude with thin air and little oxygen and maintain normal blood flow, and Argentinians who can ingest and metabolize arsenic, the chemical element that can kill an average human being. But are we ready for the brutal challenges of space traveling?
Through delicate genome editing procedures, we got Chorós Emvios, which is Greek for "Living Space." It has the brain like a dolphin, the slimy back like a planarian, the wings of newborn honeybees, the feet of rats, the cell matrix of a tardigrade, and the tail as a combination of the radiotrophic fungi and a rotifer. This will make the Flying Pikachu invincible!
While the earth's atmosphere and magnetic field protect us from most of the radiation, astronauts will be exposed to large doses of dangerous electromagnetic waves that pose significant risks of genetic damage and increase lifetime risk for cancer, central nervous system effects, and degenerative diseases.
It's fun when we see astronauts floating in the space station, but actually long-term exposure to microgravity is harmful to us. Astronauts may suffer from loss of bone and muscle density, damaging their capability to perform critical tasks and posing threats to their health.
Hypergravity environments will be observed at the launching and landing part of the space travel. However, an average human body as we know it can only withstand up to 5g of gravity before it gives in and pass out. Blood will be drawn to our legs and our brain will not be able to function.
Space is cold, brutal, and unforgiving. Click here for more challenges space travel brings us.
Dolphins don't have a breathing reflex, so they developed unihemispheric slow wave sleep (USWS) to take care of breathing during sleep. They only allow one half of their brains to sleep at a time, while the other half stays alert to continue breathing and look out for dangers in the environment.
Many mammals such as rats have higher bone density than humans. One theory is that these mammals were able to generate some kind of hormones to stimulate bone density growth.
Tardigrades, a.k.a. water bears or moss piglets, are known to be able to live for up to 30 years without food or water. They can endure temperatures of up to 150 degrees Celsius, the deep sea, and the frozen vacuum of space. They are also almost as good as rotifers at withstanding radiation.
Nature is warm, kind, and cultivating. Click here for more inspirations we can find in nature in preparation for the challenges space travel brings us.
Genome editing, also called gene editing, is an area of research seeking to modify genes of living organisms to improve our understanding of gene function and develop ways to use it to treat genetic or acquired diseases. Genome editing can be used to correct, introduce or delete almost any DNA sequence in many different types of cells and organisms.
Advanced genome editing methods engineered from proteins include zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and meganucleases. An additional method is called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, also known as CRISPR/Cas9.
As a NASA Space App Challenge participant, we prepared the videos to describe our project!