SAN DIEGO—The UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute will launch blood stem cells into space aboard a NASA support mission to the International Space Station Nov. 22 in an effort to study the impact of lack of gravity on human cellular aging.
According to NASA studies, when astronaut Scott Kelly returned from a year-long trip aboard the ISS, lab tests revealed changes in his blood cells. These sorts of cellular changes had been observed in blood before, but only after decades of human aging.
The NASA SpaceX CRS-26 mission set to launch Tuesday afternoon will attempt to study not only ways to keep astronauts healthy, but also possibly how to prevent the effects of aging on Earth….