While exploring the cosmos, astronauts also fuel explorations of the biology of aging and cellular resilience
Buck Institute study points to changes in immune cell composition as a driver of epigenetic aging in response to spaceflight
2026-01-14
(Press-News.org) When the four-member crew of Axiom-2 launched into space in May 2023 their 10-day mission was chock full of experiments aimed at understanding human physiology. Results from some of those experiments, now online at Aging Cell, highlight spaceflight as a unique model for studying aging as well as cellular resilience. The research sets the stage for testing potential anti-aging interventions for those of us who have no plans to travel in space.
Spaceflight exposes astronauts to a combination of environmental stressors such as microgravity, ionizing radiation, disruption in circadian rhythms and social isolation. Utilizing blood samples taken before, during and after the Axiom-2 mission, Buck researchers, along with collaborators at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jedda, Saudia Arabia, came up with what they call Epigenetic Age Acceleration (EAA), a formula which determines how those stressors impact gene expression and biological age. On average, EEA increased 1.91 years by flight day 7. Upon return, biological age decreased in all crew members with older astronauts returning to pre-flight estimates and younger astronauts showing a biological age lower than pre-flight levels.
“These results point to the exciting possibility that humans have intrinsic rejuvenation factors that can counter these age-accelerating stressors,” said Buck associate professor, Director of the AI and Bioinformatics Core and senior author David Furman PhD, whose lab has the ability to recapitulate the effects of microgravity in cells and organoids. “Using spaceflight as a platform to study aging mechanisms gives us a working model that will allow us to move toward the ultimate goal of identifying and boosting these rejuvenating factors both in astronauts and in those of us planning on aging in a more conventional manner.”
The blood samples were investigated using 32 different DNA methylation-based clocks and the research was led by Buck postdoc and bioinformatician Matias Fuentealba, PhD, first author of the paper. Scientists observed that shifts in immune cell composition accounted for a significant portion of the observed age acceleration, driven largely by changes in regulatory T-cells and naïve CD4 T-cells. However, even after adjusting for cell composition, chronological age predictors showed acceleration during spaceflight. “The findings suggest that spaceflight induces rapid, yet reversible, epigenetic changes that are partially distinct from cell shifts,” said Furman, adding, “This positions spaceflight as a platform to study aging mechanisms and test geroprotective interventions.”
Furman is modeling microgravity in his lab utilizing organoids grown from heart, brain and immune cells to further understand the impact of spaceflight on different tissues. Patented technology from the Buck has been spun off into a company focused on building tools and assays for drug discovery and for consumers interested in intervening in the aging process.
CITATION: Astronauts as a Human Aging Model: Epigenetic Age Responses to Space Exposure
DOI: 10.1111/acel.70360
Additional Coauthors include Christopher Mason, JangKeun Kim, Jeremy Wain Hirschberg and Eliah G. Overbey, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York; and Bader Shirah, Department of Neuroscience, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudia Arabia.
COI: David Furman is co-founder of Cosmica Biosciences. All other authors have declared no competing interests.
About the Buck Institute for Research on Aging
At the Buck, we aim to end the threat of age-related diseases for this and future generations. We bring together the most capable and passionate scientists from a broad range of disciplines to study mechanisms of aging and to identify therapeutics that slow down aging. Our goal is to increase human health span, or the healthy years of life. Located just north of San Francisco, we are globally recognized as the pioneer and leader in efforts to target aging, the number one risk factor for serious diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, macular degeneration, heart disease, and diabetes. The Buck wants to help people live better longer. Our success will ultimately change healthcare. Learn more at: https://buckinstitute.org
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2026-01-14
Photothermal therapy, as an emerging cancer treatment method, has attracted significant attention due to its advantages such as minimal invasiveness, low toxicity, and strong spatiotemporal control. It overcomes the limitations of traditional therapies, which often involve large wounds and systemic toxicity. Recently, a study published in Biofunctional Materials reported the successful development of a novel nanomaterial. This material demonstrates excellent photothermal conversion efficiency and good biocompatibility, showing promising potential as a long-lasting and highly effective photothermal agent in experiments, thus offering new possibilities for precise tumor treatment.
Cancer ...
2026-01-14
A mouse scurries up to six chestnuts. Three look healthy. Three have exit holes where moth larvae ate the insides before they left. What does the mouse do?
For two years, Nagoya University researchers watched wood mice make these decisions on a forest floor. They measured the time they spent selecting nuts and found that about half the mice observed spent about five seconds sniffing and comparing chestnuts before they chose, potentially increasing their exposure to predators. The other half grabbed the nearest nut and ran in one to two seconds. The study, published in Scientific Reports, confirms that mice use smell to detect ...
2026-01-14
Curtin University researchers have demonstrated a new way to uncover the ancient history of Australia’s landscapes, which could offer crucial insights into how our environment responds to geological processes and climate change and even where deposits of valuable minerals may be found.
The international team led by Curtin’s Timescales of Mineral Systems Group at the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, in cooperation with the University of Göttingen and the University of Cologne, studied tiny crystals of zircon found ...
2026-01-14
Helping women to keep their blood pressure at normal levels could reduce their risk of experiencing pregnancy complications, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Bristol. The research is published in BMC Medicine today [14 January].
Fernanda Morales-Berstein, Research Associate at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author, said: “Our findings suggest that higher maternal blood pressure increases the risk of multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm delivery, giving birth to smaller babies, needing to have labour induced, gestational diabetes and the baby needing to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit.”
Maria ...
2026-01-14
The postoperative complications of medical tourism may be costing the NHS up to £20,000 per patient, suggest the findings of a rapid review of the available data, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.
But data on the use, frequency, and consequences for the NHS are incomplete and haphazard, making it currently impossible to fully understand the risks of opting for surgery overseas, warn the researchers.
The number of medical tourists has risen steadily over the past several decades, ...
2026-01-14
Smartphone apps—particularly those based on psychological theories—are 3 times as effective as no/minimal support at helping people who smoke stub out their tobacco use long term, suggests a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the online journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine.
If high quality clinical trials can confirm lasting benefits and key features, these apps could become a cornerstone of global tobacco control efforts, suggest the researchers.
Smartphone ...
2026-01-14
Female sex and higher education are significantly linked to the escalating prevalence of obesity and overweight in Africa, finds one of the largest and most detailed analyses of body weight trends in the region, published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.
Women’s odds of obesity in Africa are 5 times greater than those of men’s, while obesity is 3 times more likely in those with tertiary level education than in those with lower levels, the findings indicate.
The global prevalence of overweight and obesity has more than doubled over the past 4 decades. In 2022, 2.5 billion adults ...
2026-01-14
**Embargo: 23.30 [UK time] / 6.30pm [US ET] Tuesday 13th January 2026**
Peer-reviewed / Systematic Review + Meta-analysis / People
Moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking at a an average speed of 5 km/h (3 mph) for an extra five minutes a day is associated with a 10% reduction in all deaths in the majority of adults [1] (who accumulate around 17 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on average), and around 6% of all deaths in the least active adults [2] (those who are active at this intensity on average for around 2 minutes a day), according to a new study published in The Lancet.
The ...
2026-01-14
For the first time, researchers have used machine learning – a type of artificial intelligence (AI) – to identify the most important drivers of cancer survival in nearly all the countries in the world.
The study, which is published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1] today (Wednesday), provides information on which improvements or policy changes can be made in each country that would have the greatest impact on improving cancer survival. By going to the online tool created by the researchers, anyone can find ...
2026-01-14
New findings from the University of East London show that online risk-taking is widespread among young people, with behaviours such as digital piracy, accessing risky online spaces or engaging with harmful content having a high potential to lead to more serious offenses.
Interviews with convicted cybercriminals in the UK and Switzerland revealed a diverse cohort spanning a wide age range and offence types, from hacking and digital fraud to sexual offences carried out online. Nearly half (47%) reported engaging ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] While exploring the cosmos, astronauts also fuel explorations of the biology of aging and cellular resilience
Buck Institute study points to changes in immune cell composition as a driver of epigenetic aging in response to spaceflight
