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A researcher holding an arabidopsis plant, with a computer screen background containing genetic sequences
How Plants Protect Their DNA in Space 
Dorothy Shippen and Borja Barbero Barcenilla investigated how spaceflight affects telomeres of Arabidopsis seedlings grown on the International Space Station.
How Plants Protect Their DNA in Space 
How Plants Protect Their DNA in Space 

Dorothy Shippen and Borja Barbero Barcenilla investigated how spaceflight affects telomeres of Arabidopsis seedlings grown on the International Space Station.

Dorothy Shippen and Borja Barbero Barcenilla investigated how spaceflight affects telomeres of Arabidopsis seedlings grown on the International Space Station.

International space station

Eytan Stibbe wears a headset and a blue shirt while surrounded by computers and other equipment on the International Space Station.
Whenever, Wherever: Taking DNA Amplification Outside the Lab
Hannah Thomasy, PhD | Dec 4, 2023 | 10 min read
Recombinase polymerase amplification lets researchers rapidly replicate DNA in the clinic, in the field, or even in the International Space Station.
Astronaut working on the space station in outer space, with the Earth and sun in the background.
Monitoring Microbes in Spacecraft Air
Bertin Technologies | Sep 13, 2023 | 1 min read
PCR-based methods and nanopore sequencing can improve the way astronauts sample bioaerosols on the International Space Station.
special report
cracked and jagged Russian flag
Russian Scientists Grapple with an Uncertain Future
Anna Azvolinsky | Mar 25, 2022 | 10+ min read
The now month-long invasion of Ukraine has resulted in changes in policies and severances of international scientific collaborations with Russian universities and researchers. The war has also precipitated a moral reckoning for many scientists in Russia.
Pharma Looks to Outer Space to Boost Drug R&D
Katarina Zimmer | Dec 1, 2020 | 9 min read
There are benefits of studying certain biological processes under microgravity, but whether those advantages outweigh the costs of getting experiments off Earth remains to be seen.
Q&A: How Animals Change in Space
Jef Akst | Nov 25, 2020 | 4 min read
Weill Cornell Medicine geneticist Christopher Mason speaks with The Scientist about a bolus of new work on the physiological, cellular, and molecular effects of leaving Earth.
Spaceflight Alters Genes of Human Stem Cell–Derived Heart Cells
Emily Makowski | Nov 7, 2019 | 3 min read
Cardiomyocytes made from iPSCs aboard the International Space Station had upregulated mitochondrial functioning.
iss international space station tissue chips organ on a chip lucie low
Q&A: Organs on a Chip Head to the International Space Station
Emma Yasinski | May 1, 2019 | 4 min read
Lucie Low, a project leader for Tissue Chips in Space, describes the experiments that are slated to blast off later this week.
international space station iss scott kelly
Astronaut Study Shows Some Lasting Changes from Time in Space
Kerry Grens | Apr 11, 2019 | 2 min read
Scott Kelly’s physiology, gene activity, and mental performance changed after time aboard the International Space Station, but mostly returned to normal once back on Earth.
Bacterial Genetics Could Help Researchers Block Interplanetary Contamination
Ashley Yeager | Aug 1, 2018 | 4 min read
Identifying microbes from Earth that can survive on spacecraft may help scientists eliminate them from future space missions and from searches for extraterrestrial life.
Researchers Grow Veggies in Space
Ashley Yeager | Jun 1, 2018 | 4 min read
Experiments to cultivate greens on the International Space Station and in simulated Martian environments pave the way for feeding crews during deep space missions.
Far Out Gardening
The Scientist | May 31, 2018 | 1 min read
Blast off into orbit, where researchers on the International Space Station are growing plants in systems that may one day sustain astronauts travelling far across the solar system and beyond.
Kate Rubins Was the First to Sequence DNA in Space
Aggie Mika | Sep 1, 2017 | 3 min read
The virologist turned NASA astronaut pioneered DNA sequencing in space and conducted experiments in microgravity.
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