Tejal somvanshi
Over 50 million people around the globe are suffering from sarcopenia, or loss of muscle, and an increase in the likelihood of falls.
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Exercise has been the only treatment developed for sarcopenia until a historic experiment aboard the ISS National Lab set out to change that.
Fortunately, a team of researchers from the University of Florida was able to create a model of age-related muscle loss by using tissue chip technology in microgravity.
Its unique environment allows the ISS to run a speeded-up version of a muscle deterioration experiment impossible to run on Earth.
Siobhan Malany used muscle tissue chips from young active adults and older sedentary individuals to model sarcopenia.
In microgravity, even tissue chips from young active adults showed the upregulation of genes connected to old age in muscles, confirming the accuracy of the model.
The findings of this research lead to exciting new opportunities to develop therapies that address the pathogenesis of sarcopenia.
Millions suffer worldwide, and ISS-based research here may change the face of treatment of age-related muscle loss and improvement in quality of life.