EATING LETTUCE ON A MARS TRIP MAY PROTECT ASTRONAUTS' BONES

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To stave off sickness linked with long spaceflights, astronauts may one day grow and eat genetically engineered plants.

The University of California, Davis College of Engineering has produced a transgenic, or genetically engineered, lettuce that produces a medicine that protects against bone density loss in microgravity.

Our bones maintain a continual balance of growth and resorption, allowing them to adjust to damage or changes in activity. Astronauts lose bone mass when they spend time in microgravity because this balance is disrupted, causing bones to resorb. A medicine called parathyroid hormone, or PTH, can be used to treat this, but it requires regular injections.

PTH and a portion of a human antibody protein are fused together in the transgenic lettuce. According to Professor Somen Nandi of the UC Davis Department of Chemical Engineering, the fusion protein is designed to be stable in the bloodstream and to allow astronauts to purify the medication from plant extracts.

The team is determining how much medication the plants can generate, which leaves contain the greatest substance, and when the optimal moment is to harvest the leaves.

Growing plants in space has a number of advantages, according to Nandi. A Mars expedition could take several years to complete. He noted that having the ability to produce some food in addition to pre-packaged meals is a significant morale booster for astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Long space flights necessitate medical supplies, such as PTH. However, because traditional medicines would expire on the journey, astronauts would need to find a way to replace their supplies. Astronauts can conserve weight and perhaps have a new source of fresh pharmaceuticals by transporting medicines in the form of transgenic plant seeds, according to Nandi.

In an ideal world, the medicine would be available in an oral form, allowing astronauts to take PTH by eating lettuce leaves. However, even if that doesn't work, they should be able to extract and purify the medication from the plants.

The findings were presented at the American Chemical Society's Spring Meeting in San Diego.

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