Space Biosciences: Translational Research for Space, Benefitting Life on Earth

Human inquisitiveness, the fundamental drive to explore the unknown, is venturing to explore intriguing locations and destinations further away in our solar system. Through dedicated decades of study, scientists and engineers have made great progress in understanding the limits, constraints, and challenges faced by the human body in the ‘environment of space’, yet a lot more remains to be unraveled. As we move far from Earth into the space environment, factors like microgravity, radiation, altered atmospheric gas composition, diet changes, and isolation are some of the known stressors on humans. These factors impart duration-dependent effects on human physiology, including changes in gene expression, immune function, bone and muscle loss, and cardiovascular function. The critical challenges of supporting “earth-based life” during these extraterrestrial activities and the multidisciplinary approaches involved in devising countermeasures to keep the crew healthy and productive in space culminated in the emergence of bioastronautics as a critical component in human spaceflight research. As a subset of the domain of bioastronautics, space biosciences grew substantially in the past 60 years and emerged as a key component of translational research by developing innovative solutions to the challenges associated with long-duration space missions. For instance, the changes in the human physiology accompanying spaceflight have provided valuable insights into human biology and in the identification of potential therapeutic targets for various diseases, including osteoporosis, immune disorders, and cardiovascular disease. Space biosciences research has now emerged as a unique platform for advancing biomedical science and translating research findings to clinical applications on Earth as attested by the hundreds of biomedical products in daily use and many under development. The integration of advanced technologies, such as gene editing, tissue engineering, and advanced imaging techniques, with space omics-based research can further enhance the translation of these findings to clinical applications. This chapter discusses the importance of Space Biosciences in translational research and highlights some of the recent discoveries and ongoing efforts in this field that have made huge strides on life on Earth.