Experiments on Worms May Keep Astronauts Healthier in Space

Astronauts on future missions to Mars may stay healthier thanks to experiments on Earth with a tiny, almost microscopic worm. Long-term space travel in low or zero gravity changes how the blood circulates, weakens the immune system, and causes motion sickness, muscle loss and fatigue.  It can also trigger bone loss. So scientists at the University of Delaware’s Biotechnology Institute are testing the effects of weightlessness on C. elegans, a transparent invertebrate that is often...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - jeudi 12 février 2015