In Space, Your Own Stem Cells Can't Sleep And Then Become Zombies

It's difficult being successful space. You're isolated from friends and loved ones, your mitochondria get damaged, you get dumber, and you mightiness conscionable get stranded for months astatine a clip (and get nether $1,500 for it). Oh, and according to a study conscionable published, your critically important stem cells go insomniacs, which causes you to commencement turning into nan microorganism your astir distant ancestors erstwhile contracted. Yes, abstraction turns you into a zombie. But astatine slightest nan position is good.

A squad of scientists from nan University of California San Diego published their findngs successful nan journal Cell Stem Cell. Essentially, they recovered that abstraction was a stressful environment, which they mightiness person learned from watching immoderate "Alien" movie. Being successful Earth orbit, pinch its microgravity and cosmic radiation, keeps our stem cells stressed constantly. Our stem cells usually want to slumber 80% of nan time, nan study's lead author, Catriona Jamieson, told CNN. But erstwhile woken up by nan revalation that something's not correct (they're successful space), they conscionable can't autumn backmost to sleep. I person ne'er related to a compartment harder.

Just for illustration you and me, nan sleep-deprived stem cells go exhausted and incapable to usability properly. That intends they can't do their jobs, which impact reproducing other, much specialized cells for illustration bony marrow. Without that activity being done successful your body, you fundamentally conscionable property faster. In fact, Jamieson told NBC News, your stem cells property "ten times faster successful abstraction than connected nan ground." 

Wow, that each sounds beautiful bad. We haven't moreover gotten to nan portion erstwhile nan microorganism wrong your ain DNA turns you into a zombie.

It turns out, Agent Smith from "The Matrix" was correct each along: you are a virus. Much of you, anyway. As New York's Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory explains, "Eight percent of our DNA consists of remnants of ancient viruses, and different 40 percent is made up of repetitive strings of familial letters that is besides thought to person a viral origin." In different words, germs that ancient primates contracted replicated their ain familial codification into ours (which is what viruses do), and past those compromised genes sewage passed connected to nan adjacent generation, and connected and on. So almost half of you is either microorganism aliases junk codification created by a virus.

A batch of degenerative diseases are thought to travel from nan dormant microorganism genes wrong of you. Man, judge would beryllium bad if immoderate cosmic radiation activated immoderate of that retired of dormancy! Oops — nan study showed that that's precisely what happens erstwhile abstraction stresses stem cells excessively much. So small bits of nan flu your greatest-great-grandpa erstwhile had are waking up wrong you, successful space. At this point, I'd alternatively nan Xenomorph conscionable travel eat me.

In each seriousness, your stem cells commencement to look preleukemic aft spending clip successful orbit. So if humanity wants to get superior astir abstraction exploration 1 day, we're going to request to contend pinch nan wellness consequences of sustained vulnerability to an situation we were ne'er meant for. The bully news is, your stem cells do retrieve erstwhile they return to Earth.

Enjoy your dreams tonight!