NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,202 29 May 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)

The abstract in PubMed or at the publisher’s site is linked when available and will open in a new window.

Papers deriving from NASA support:

1. Nwanaji-Enwerem JC, Khodasevich D, Blakley J, Galazka JM, Cardenas A.Longitudinal blood epigenetic aging, DNA methylation-predicted protein, and estimated leukocyte proportion trends in two astronauts from the Axiom Space Mission 1: An exploratory analysis.Genes. 2026 May 13;17(5):564.Journal Impact Factor: 2.8
   
   Funding: J.M. Galazka is affiliated with NASA Ames Research Center.
2. Wostyn P, Nedergaard M, Gibson CR, Mader TH.Asymmetric optic disc edema in astronauts: A narrative review proposing an interplay between ocular venous congestion and glymphatic transport.Life (Basel). 2026 May 17;16(5):831. Review.Journal Impact Factor: 3.4
   
   Funding: C.R. Gibson is affiliated with NASA Space Medicine Operations Division, Johnson Space Center.
3. Kingsley S, Nguyen HN, Knopp AN, Castro CL, Orlando TM, Castro-Wallace SL, Wallace WT.Identification of volatile organic compound markers for bacterial growth in spacecraft wastewater.Analyst. 2026 May 19. Online ahead of print.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.3
   
   Funding: “S.K. would like to acknowledge support from NASA’s Space Technology Research Grants Program, 80NSSC23K1208. T.M.O. would like to acknowledge support from NASA under Grant Number 80NSSC19K1052 as part of the NASA Space Technology Research Institute (STRI) Habitats Optimized for Missions of Exploration (HOME) ‘SmartHab’ Project. H. N. N., A.N.K., and C.L.C. acknowledge funding through NASA contracts NNJ15HK11B and 80JSC025D0068. The authors would like to thank the members of the JSC Microbiology Laboratory and the JSC Environmental Chemistry Laboratory who provided support throughout this testing.”
4. Kumar A, Pattanshetti S, Patel RD, Pandey R, Mahalingam E, Rahbar E, Jain A.Hemadyne: Accordion-inspired perfusion for microphysiological systems.Nat Commun. 2026 May 25. Early access article.PI: A. JainNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 15.7
   
   Funding: “A.J. discloses support for the research of this work by the US Army Medical Research (USAMRAA) Contract No. HT94252410432; NASA, BARDA, NIH, and USFDA, under Contract No. 80ARC023CA002; NHLBI of NIH under Award Number R01HL157790; and TAMU Office of Innovation Translational Investment Funds.”
5. Bennett JP, Wong MC, Liu Y, Kelly NN, Quon BK, Shepherd JA.Consumer technologies for personalized health: Feasibility of five-compartment body composition self-assessment using mobile devices.Obesity. 2026 May 14. Online ahead of print.PI: J.A. ShepherdJournal Impact Factor: 4.7
   
   Funding: “This work is supported by the NASA Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) under Cooperative Agreement NNX16AO69A, award P700000425.”
6. McDonnell G, Teece BL, Mackelprang R, Cressie N, McQuiston JR, Mayhew LE, Steele A, Siljeström S, Ahern BM, Baird N, Davis RE, French KL, Glamoclija M, Graham H, Hummel KB, Page W, Pearce N, Regberg A, Relman D, Sephton MA, Sherwood Lollar B, Vanhomwegen J, Wilhelm MB, Shirey B, Beaty DW.Mars sample return campaign: Biological risk and a proposed sample safety assessment protocol.Appl Environ Microbiol. 2026 May 27;e0246125. Online ahead of print.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.9
   
   Funding: B.L. Teece, W. Page, B. Shirey, and D.W. Beaty are affiliated with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. R.E. Davis and A. Regberg are affiliated with NASA Johnson Space Center. H. Graham is affiliated with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. M.B. Wilhelm is affiliated with NASA AMES Research Center.
7. Ahmed S, Tryggvason G, Ling Y.Rise of a confined bubble in a wedge.Int J Multiph Flow. 2026 Mar;197:105628.PI: Y. LingNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.8
   
   Funding: “This research was supported by NASA, United States (#80NSSC24K0192). We also acknowledge the ACCESS program (allocation #PHY250033) and the Research Computing at University of South Carolina, United States for providing the computational resources.”

Other papers of interest:

1. Ali S, Parafati M, Greenberg ZF, Erwin N, Thwin Z, He M, Malany S.Extracellular vesicle transcriptomic analysis to investigate muscle adaptation in microgravity.iScience. 2026 Jun 19;29(6):115838.Note: ISS results. This article may be obtained online without charge.
2. Di Carlo R, Mhate U, Mancinelli L, Boruah S, Leite TC, Geng X, Brown MC, Limberg AK, Van Citters DW, Hess BJ, Kay GW, Intini G.A novel mineral-organic bone adhesive promotes calvarial bone regeneration in microgravity conditions.npj Microgravity. 2026 May 21. Early access article.Note: ISS results. From the abstract: “Microgravity significantly impacts astronaut physiology, causing accelerated bone loss and impairing bone regeneration. As human space exploration expands, effective and minimally invasive bone repair treatments are crucial. In this study, we investigated the regenerative potential of a novel mineral-organic bone adhesive, Tetranite^® (TN), compared to the osteoinductive rhBMP2 (Infuse^®). We used a critical-size calvarial bone defect model in mice, with half launched on a 60-day mission to the International Space Station and the other half serving as ground controls.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
3. Cheraqpour K, Shahriari M, Ghazi M, Heydari N, Moshfeghi S, Mousavi Ganji SM, Asgari S, Cheraqpour S.AstroOphthalmology: Basic and pathophysiological concepts of space-induced ocular changes.Eye Brain. 2026 May 19;18:611235. Review.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
4. Böcker J, Lau P, Mittag U, Bloch W, Vico L, Rittweger J.Comparison of musculoskeletal responses and its variability after long-term spaceflight and prolonged bedrest conditions.npj Microgravity. 2026 May 25;12(1):43.Note: From the article Methods section: “This study aims on the musculoskeletal response to microgravity exposure, its recovery and variability, and compares these results with a bedrest analogue. Therefore, we included data sets from the following ESA studies: ‘Bone loss and recovery after Space exposure’ (EDOS-2) and ‘Reactive Jumps in a Sledge Jump system as a countermeasure during long-term bedrest’ (RSL) study.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
5. Keremane P, van Vuuren AJ, Mumbrekar KD, Vandevoorde C.Spaceflight reshapes the gut microbiome: Impact of microgravity and radiation on dysbiosis-associated oncogenic pathways.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 May 19. Review. Online ahead of print.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
6. Menon S, Currie-Gregg N.Injury risk differences between male and female spacecraft occupants under spaceflight dynamic loads: A computational study.J Biomech Eng. 2026 May 20;1-25. Online ahead of print.Note: From the abstract: “This computational study assessed differences in injury risk between male and female spacecraft occupants under spaceflight dynamic loads. The Global Human Body Models Consortium 50th percentile simplified male (GHBMC M50-OS) and female (GHBMC F50-OS) finite element models were used to simulate 150 pairs of impacts.”
7. Sun K, Zhang J, Li H, Song W, Zhang Q, Ma L, Wang J, Xiao W, Yang G, Huang M, Huang C, Zhou D, Shen R, Chen C, Zhang M, Zhao C, Huang Z, Wang P, Zhang J, Zeng J, Liu Y, Wang H, Chen Z, Guo T.Multiomics analysis of the molecular and single-cell responses of rice after deep-space flight on Chang’e-5.Nat Commun. 2026 May 19. Early access article.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
8. Vashishat I, Han SE, Assogba BD.COVID-19 in space: Possible health risks and preparedness guidelines.Pathogens. 2026 May 6;15(5):498. Review.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
9. Carvajal-Agudelo JD, Franz-Odendaal TA.Transcriptomic profiling and RANKL/RANK/OPG-mediated osteoclastogenesis in zebrafish larvae under simulated microgravity conditions.Front Cell Dev Biol. 2026 May 3;14:1786373.Note: A random positioning machine was used in this study to simulate microgravity. This article may be obtained online without charge.
10. Manjunath CB, Vivek AS, Rajasekharan R, Sen VK, Sajin S, Abhinaj V, Chandra SKS, Anagha P, Sivaranjani H, Pandey U, Prasanth TK, Lakshmi KS, Kumar M, George J, Prabhu VR, Vanitha K, Prajoob K, Himanshu P, Mathews S, Amarnath N, Biju Prasad B.Design, testing, and flight performance of Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies (CROPS)-A miniature plant growth chamber for PSLV orbital experiment module.Acta Astronaut. 2026 Oct; 247:591-605.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
11. Hughes J, Elmore E, Uchiumi M, McArdle J, Nithyanandam S, Caruso JF, Best S, Bollinger LM.Unilateral lower limb suspension affects motor unit action potential train characteristics in a size-dependent manner during high force isometric knee extension.Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2026 May 24. Online ahead of print.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
12. Leasure JW, Lee SM, Yerlioglu KL, Castellon M, Li H, Fantauzzi A, Chen S, Muslmani SB, Sharma A, Chen J, Minshall RD.Transcriptomic profiling of the sex-linked biological pathways of severe pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with endothelial cell caveolin-1 depletion and chronic hypoxia.Front Physiol. 2026 May 7;17:1794886.Note: This article is part of Research Topic “Exploring Sex-Specific Cardiovascular Health: Risk Factors and Molecular Insights” (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/70602/exploring-sex-specific-cardiovascular-health-risk-factors-and-molecular-insights) and may be obtained online without charge.
13. Liu LD, Duricka DL.Case report: Relief of long-standing severe motion sickness following stellate ganglion block.Front Neurosci. 2026 May 6;20:1811989.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
14. Proske U, Weber BM.Human position sense based on memories is not proprioception.J Physiol. 2026 May 24. Online ahead of print.
15. Vera R, Berea A, Kennedy WG.Lunar base agent-based modeling: A benchmark for simulating crewed space missions.PLoS One. 2026 May 27;21(5):e0348882.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.

astrobiology, ISS, Microgravity, space biology, space life science, space medicine, spaceline,