Age-dependent atrophy and microgravity travel: what do they have in common?

Space travel and extending human lifespan are two of the many advances of t he twentieth century. However, both of these scientific wonders exact a pri ce for their gains; i.e. deleterious effects on normal physiological proces ses, For example, both old age and prolonged microgravity travel are associ ated with atrophy in heart, muscle, and bone. The underlying signal transdu ction pathways, the control mechanisms for the processes of proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, may prove to be similarly altered in both o ld age and microgravity travel. We suggest that the mechanical events invol ved in space travel provide a telescopic compression of lifespan changes in these tissues; if so, space travel provides an excellent opportunity to in vestigate how long-term degeneration occurs on Earth, With the aid of bioch ip technology for multi-factorial analysis, a platform can be generated to create therapeutic modalities to contain, retard, reduce, or prevent this t issue atrophy, either in space or on Earth.