We have studied the bones of some mice that passed 37 days in space. The results are not optimistic
In November of this year, if there are no unforeseen events, in November of this year humanity will celebrate an anniversary. They will be fulfilled 25 years of human presence continued in space. The exploration of the last border has advanced significantly and humans spend more time in space and aspire to get further. But that has a price. The cost of microgravity. A team of researchers has analyzed The effects of a spatial mission on mice and the results do not invite optimism. They observed that the stay severely affected the bones of these rodents, who lost bone density in parts of their body. The femur, great victim. This loss of bone mass was not given in all areas equally. The team observed, for example, that the femur was one of the bones where the most extended bone cavities. In contrast, the lumbar zone of mammalian spine were the least affected. This makes the study responsible for the study suspect that the main trigger for this loss of bone density is in the microgravity. For example, the team indicates an alternative hypothesis, radiation. As they explain, the mice in the ISS were not exposed to large doses of radiation from space, but if this had been the loss of bone mass would have occurred from outside, that is, that the bones closest to the surface would have been more damaged, while the most surrounded by muscle bones would have been more protected. 37 days in orbit. The experiment used mice to explore how long rooms in space affect. They were used Two groups of micesome that were sent to the space station for a mission of 37 days and others that remained on Earth as a control group. The team responsible for the study simulated flight conditions in the control group to be able to make the conditions similar in everything except in the space stay. Similar, not identical. Those responsible for the study explain in a video how mice and humans keep important biological similarities that imply the changes we see in some are probably also giving in others. There are also differences to consider. For example, the fact that humans are bipeds implies that the bones of our lumbar zone have a more important role in supporting the weight of the upper part of our body. This implies that these bones are probably more affected in humans than in mice. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Plos One. If you don’t use it, you lose it. The body often tries to optimize resources. That is why a possible explanation to this phenomenon is there, in the idea that, since the bones in microgravity do not need to endure the weight of our body, they lose mass and density. Other risks. The study points to microgravity as the main suspect of the loss of bone density but this is not the only risk to take into account when we devise long -term space trips. Radiation is perhaps the most important in this sense, to the point that it was considered as a candidate to cause bone mass loss in mice. Radiation implies an additional problem and that, although in places like the moon and Mars the seriousness of the bodies could reduce the deterioration of the bones associated with the microgravity conditions, the same cannot be said of radiation. Moreover, the radiation in these environments is greater since the International Space Station even protected by the Earth’s magnetic shield. In Xataka | The 24 most spectacular videos and photos from the International Space Station Image | POT / Rukmani Cahill, et al. (2025)
