Fresh New Air in Space? ‘MoMa’ on the A.S.I. Launch Pad

Abstract

The present project has been developed because of the desire to unify the research lines in the A.S.I. 'Medicine & Biotechnology' area into one research line that could satisfy the interests of all of the collaborative groups and at the same time could pursue a relevant social goal. A 6 month feasibility study (SF) called MoMa was carried out in the ASI framework. During the SF the know-how and the tools already available in the national scientific community have been assessed, selected and evaluated even with the important contribution of Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SME) and of Italian industries already involved in Space Research. As result of the SF MoMa, all of the participants decided to combine all the efforts together and define, with all the know-how and the available technologies, one strategic topic, the "Aging" with a special attention to the Quality of Life (QoL). The space environment is a unique laboratory to study the reaction of living organisms (especially humans) to microgravity and cosmic radiation. The study of the effects of these two variables at the molecular and cellular levels will shed light on the response of cells and living organisms to adverse stimulations that are always present even on Earth and will help us able to develop the best strategies to protect the organisms from the progressive structural and functional decline related to Aging. Relevant spin-offs on Earth and also relevant industrial applications are the expected outputs of this project.

Embryonic development and skeletogenic gene expression affected by X-rays in the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

“…Doses utilized (0.1, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 Gy) were selected on the basis of X-ray ranges used on different cell types (Suyama et al 1981;Antoccia et al 2002;Lanza et al 2005;Al-Jahdari et al 2008). The route of exposure (indirect radiation bursts given to cultures, as opposed to radionuclides containing sea water) and doses used were also motivated by the possibility to use the sea urchin embryo as a model organism in comparative risk assessment studies performed in the frame of National Space Agency program (Ambesi Impiombato et al 2006). The presence of morphological abnormalities was monitored by microscopic inspection 24 and 48 h after irradiation (27 and 51 h after fertilization, respectively).…”