Protection Against Cosmic Radiation Through Biological Response Pathways
The upcoming phase of space exploration not only includes trips to Mars and beyond, but also holds great promise for human progress.
However, the harm caused by cosmic radiation, consisting of Galactic Cosmic Rays and Solar Particle Events, is an important safety concern for astronauts and other living things that will accompany them. Research exploring the biological effects of cosmic radiation includes experiments conducted in space itself and in simulated space environments on Earth.
Notably, NASA’s Space Radiation Laboratory has taken significant steps forward in simulating cosmic radiation by using particle accelerators and is currently pioneering the progress in this field. Curiously, much of the research emphasis thus far has been on understanding how cosmic radiation impacts living organisms, instead of finding ways to help them resist the radiation.
In this paper, we briefly talk about current research on the biological effects of cosmic radiation and propose possible protective measures through biological interventions. In our opinion, biological response pathways responsible for coping with stressors on Earth can provide effective solutions for protection against the stress caused by cosmic radiation.
We also recommend establishing the Dedicated International Accelerator Laboratory for Space Travel related radiation research (DIAL-ST) to advance this field and evaluate protective biological pathways through particle accelerator experiments simulating cosmic radiation.
Biological Stress Response Pathways Against Cosmic Radiation. Cosmic radiation from the sun (Solar Particle Events) and beyond (Galactic Cosmic Rays) can harm living organisms by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and damaging important biomolecules like DNA and proteins. However, biological pathways that evolved to protect against Earthly stressors can reduce this harm through several mechanisms. Antioxidation can removes ROS, DNA repair enzymes fix DNA damage and proteostasis recycles damaged protein fragments or refolds misfolded proteins. These protective mechanisms can be enhanced by modulating biological response pathways through interventions such as mutants, drugs or dietary manipulations. Damage caused by cosmic radiation is shown in red while the protective mechanisms are shown in green. — physics.bio-ph
Beyond Earthly Limits: Protection against Cosmic Radiation through Biological Response Pathways
Zahida Sultanova, Saleh Sultansoy
Subjects: Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph); High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); Accelerator Physics (physics.acc-ph); Medical Physics (physics.med-ph); Molecular Networks (q-bio.MN)
Cite as: arXiv:2405.12151 [physics.bio-ph] (or arXiv:2405.12151v3 [physics.bio-ph] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2405.12151
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Submission history
From: Zahida Sultanova Dr.
[v1] Mon, 20 May 2024 16:23:52 UTC (432 KB)
[v2] Mon, 3 Jun 2024 20:11:53 UTC (561 KB)
[v3] Fri, 30 Aug 2024 17:58:01 UTC (625 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.12151
Astrobiology,
