Sent deep into the universe to study the medicine of immortality

A package of goods containing tens of thousands of worms has been submitted by British scientists to study the preparation of medicinal herbs to repel aging.

The team of scientists from the University of Nottingham (UK) has sent . tens of thousands of worms to the International Space Station ISS , to serve the research to promote "cell batteries", ie mitochondria, to slow down Aging process of musculoskeletal system or even prevent it completely.

According to assistant professor, Dr. Bethan Phillips, clinical expert on metabolism and molecular physiology, member of the research team, micro-worms contain many essential biological characteristics such as human and photo Enjoyed by biological changes in space, including changes in muscle and energy use.

In other words, in the space environment, they will have to experience quickly the aging process of a human being, starting with musculoskeletal systems.

A view from ISS, including a structural part of the space station, Milky Way and Earth - (photo: Scott Kelly / NASA).

Human musculoskeletal system is actually linked to many other systems in the body, such as the immune system. Losing muscle, osteoporosis will lead to the decline of many organ systems, causing people to weaken with age. Slowing the aging of the musculoskeletal system can make people live longer and live healthier when they get older.

So the package contains worms that also come with two " longevity " drugs that are in the testing phase. The mere testing of life expectancy in humans in the world needs too long time and is easily affected by environmental factors so the team hopes that the cosmic environment will be "key" for them to grasp. The rapid and clear effects of aging and the anti-aging drug.

In addition, if successful, this " drug " could be applied to future astronauts, especially those expected to live on "space colonies", such as Mars. Previous studies have shown that people are also extremely fast aging in the cosmic environment. Astronauts can lose up to 40% of muscle mass in a long task and 1.5% of bone mass in each month living on space.

Research is one of the works that serves the great goal set by the UK government: adding an average of 5 years of healthy living to each person by 2035.

In the near future, the University of Liverpool (UK) will also send ISS human muscle-containing test tubes, made up of stem cells and test another "longevity" of thermal shock proteins.