Human Stem Cells Grow Differently in Space

Human stem cells grown in a rotating vessel to simulate microgravity are vastly different from those allowed to develop under normal conditions, a new study shows.

The research raises questions about the viability of humans traveling in space without gravity for long periods of time.

Australian scientists used a NASA-developed bioreactor to grow cells from a human embryonic stem cell line. These types of cells can develop into any of the body's three primary layers -- ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm, which in turn form more than the 220 types of cells found in humans.

The team discovered that 64 percent of the proteins found in the stem cells grown in simulated microgravity were not in control samples. In particular, the bioreactor cells contained several proteins involved in the breakdown of bone and in the regulation of calcium, neither type of which were found in stem cells grown in regular, Earth gravity.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study conducted that has investigated the effect of (simulated microgravity conditions) on an embryonic stem cell line and demonstrated a significant alteration in human cell function as a result of growth in microgravity conditions," lead scientist Elizabeth Blaber, with the Australian Center for Astrobiology, wrote in a paper presented at a key astrobiology conference in Houston last month.

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Simply astounding the information and knowledge we are coming across! Thought I'd share this for a quick interesting read.

Well from what I gather from reading the article, no gravity, no normal fetus.
It sounds more and more that man was meant to have a sustained gravitational pull on his body. If the gobermt wants mass space travel, they'll have to release the information on those pesky alien disks.
Nice find.
S&F

the problem is simple to solve just spin the ship.
cytrifical force simalates gravity just fine.

That requires a large ship. That was why the space stations in the fifties and sixties were so large. About the miniml distance for a diameter would be 150 meters, and really something over 200 meters would be best. Rotating with a revolution rate of six times per minute allows about 1/10th G while not disorienting the crew from rotational effects. That's really larger than what we can really do.

We have flown all kinds of tests for embryology, and while invertebrates can grow fairly well in space, vertebrates cannot do so effectively.