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from the So-that's-how-we-got-Arnold-Schwarzenegger-and-Danny-DeVito? dept.
NASA "Twins Study" Shows How Spaceflight Changes Gene Expression
Space travel strongly affects the way genes are expressed, or turned on and off, preliminary results from NASA's "Twins Study" have revealed.
"Some of the most exciting things that we've seen from looking at gene expression in space is that we really see an explosion, like fireworks taking off, as soon as the human body gets into space," Twins Study principal investigator Chris Mason said in a statement.
"With this study, we've seen thousands and thousands of genes change how they are turned on and turned off," added Mason, who's based at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University's medical school. "This happens as soon as an astronaut gets into space, and some of the activity persists temporarily upon return to Earth." Specifically, Mason and his team found an increase in methylation, which involves slapping methyl groups onto stretches of DNA. This process commonly inhibits activation of the genes involved. (A methyl group consists of a carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms.)
The Twins Study centers on former NASA astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly, who are identical twins and therefore share a DNA profile.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Wednesday November 01 2017, @03:59PM
I agree - not evolution in the normal sense: you're not seeing generational changes in DNA as the organism adapts through mutation and recombination.
You are likely seeing epigenetics in action though - nothing new being added, but different combinations of existing potential being expressed. And those changes may well be passed on to subsequent generations. One possible example (I don't think the mechanism is understood yet) - the daughters of women who started having children at a young age have been found to enter puberty sooner than those whose mothers waited longer. Potentially an excellent adaptation - if there's incentive to have children young, then it's likely that there's an advantage to be had in being able to have them even younger.