Biomedical Analysis of Human Hair Exposed to Long-term Space Flight (Hair)
Research Area: Integrated Physiology and Nutrition
Expedition(s): 22-ongoing
Principal Investigator(s): ● Chiaki Mukai, MD, PhD, Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency, Tsukuba, Japan
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Hair root cells actively divide in a hair follicle and as a result, they can reflect the physical
condition of the body. The hair shaft has an advantage in that it records the metabolic
conditions of the environment where the subject resides. The purpose of this experiment is to
examine the effect of long-duration spaceflight on gene expression and trace element
metabolism in human body by analyzing human hair.
EARTH BENEFITS
In space experiments, hair is one of the most suitable specimens, for there are neither special
hardware nor handling necessary to collect samples and retrieve them from the orbit. The
research is expected to support the development of an effective and easy diagnostic measure
for the ISS crew.
SPACE BENEFITS
The results obtained from this research will facilitate the
understanding of the relations between human metabolism
and hair. The research is expected to support the
development of alternative diagnostic methods for blood or
urine tests.
RESULTS
Sample collection from 10 ISS crew members have been
completed. As preliminary results, RNA was extracted
successfully from the samples and some changes in gene
expression have been already detected. Distribution of
trace elements has been evaluated with Electron Probe
Micro Analyzer (EPMA). Additional detailed analysis of
these samples is underway.
This investigation is ongoing and additional results are pending publication.
Sample collection in the ISS by astronaut.
JAXA image.