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Advantage of Animal Models with Metabolic Flexibility for Space Research Beyond Low Earth OrbitAs the world's space agencies and commercial entities continue to expand beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), novel approaches to carry out biomedical experiments with animals are required to address the challenge of adaptation to space flight and new planetary environments. The extended time and distance of space travel along with reduced involvement of Earth-based mission support increases the cumulative impact of the risks encountered in space. To respond to these challenges, it becomes increasingly important to develop the capability to manage an organism's self-regulatory control system, which would enable survival in extraterrestrial environments. To significantly reduce the risk to animals on future long duration space missions, we propose the use of metabolically flexible animal models as "pathfinders," which are capable of tolerating the environmental extremes exhibited in spaceflight, including altered gravity, exposure to space radiation, chemically reactive planetary environments and temperature extremes. In this report we survey several of the pivotal metabolic flexibility studies and discuss the importance of utilizing animal models with metabolic flexibility with particular attention given to the ability to suppress the organism's metabolism in spaceflight experiments beyond LEO. The presented analysis demonstrates the adjuvant benefits of these factors to minimize damage caused by exposure to spaceflight and extreme planetary environments. Examples of microorganisms and animal models with dormancy capabilities suitable for space research are considered in the context of their survivability under hostile or deadly environments outside of Earth. Potential steps toward implementation of metabolic control technology in spaceflight architecture and its benefits for animal experiments and manned space exploration missions are discussed.
Document ID
20170001400
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Griko, Yuri V.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Rask, Jon C.
(Wyle Labs., Inc. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Raychev, Raycho
(EnduroSat, Inc. Sofia, Bulgaria)
Date Acquired
February 8, 2017
Publication Date
January 1, 2017
Publication Information
Publisher: Astrobiology
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN39143
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA14AB82C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
metabilic flexibility
animal research
spaceflight
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