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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

NASA has released preliminary results [pbs.org] from the genetic study of twin brothers Scott and Mark Kelly:

The first results from NASA's Year in Space brothers [nasa.gov] are in, and show glimpses of how stressful a trip to Mars could be for the human body. Astronaut Scott Kelly captivated minds when he departed Earth in March 2015, bound for a yearlong stay at the International Space Station. Part of the excitement surrounded an experiment with his twin brother Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut who stayed on Terra Firma. At this week's NASA Human Research Program workshop [cvent.com], researchers revealed that the trip created contrasts in their genes' regular activities [nature.com].

[...] Genomic data was taken before, during and after Scott Kelly launched to the ISS aboard a Soyuz rocket in Mar. 2015. He returned in 2016, after spending 340 consecutive days in outer space. A future mission to Mars would take at least 9 months, but a round trip would be 500 days. Scott's gene expression and DNA methylation fell back to their pre-flight status shortly after he returned from the space station. What this means exactly is still unclear, but scientists are eager to learn more.

Also at Nature [nature.com] and The Verge [theverge.com].

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