Journey to find the gene against cosmic radiation for astronauts

Scientists expect to soon find astronauts with genomes that withstand extreme conditions in the universe.

With the hypothesis that some genetic materials are capable of repairing damage in radiation-induced genes, Ting Wu, a scientist at Harvard Medical School, said that genes are a solution to astronaut problems . NBC News on June 20 reported. According to Wu, humans will only explore near the Earth as long as they have not dealt with the problem of gene damage.

NASA's Mars-on-project has been launched, but the element of safety for astronauts has not been committed. A new study shows that astronauts' risk of developing cosmic radiation is twice as high as the previous view.

Cosmic radiation is a major obstacle to human exploration.(Artwork: Reuters).

The simplest way to carry out current cosmic missions is that astronauts have a mutant gene in line with the alien exploration mission as a natural defense against radiation exposure.

Wu and his colleagues are working on a way to find or create astronauts whose genes are resistant to damage due to microgravity and cosmic radiation. According to Wu's research, in the future humans are able to unleash self-repair mechanisms that are hiding within their genes.

Genetic manipulation techniques to turn off and turn on specific genes that scientists are using are not safe enough to apply to humans."This technology has been working. Only the pre-eminent problem remains," said bio-physicist Christopher Mason at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York.

In Mason's lab, human cells have additional DNA repair genes. Mason hopes to send the intervened cells into space to study their activity in micro-environments and when exposed to radiation.

In the future humans are able to unleash self-repair mechanisms that are hiding within their genes.

Wu is developing a technology to identify gene damage points, and work out a repair mechanism and study the impact of the cosmic environment on genes within cells.

George Church, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, husband of Wu, is studying natural mutations that help bacteria and human cells fight radiation."We really think we know what we're doing. But of course, we can be wrong , " Mason said.