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From Fruit Flies to Genomics: Seventy-Five Years of Unraveling Spaceflight’s Impact on Life

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Era-Specific Mechanistic Themes
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Submitted   Sep 5, 2025
Published   Nov 26, 2025
Issue    Vol 1 No 1 (2026)
DOI   10.25082/JMASMR.2025.01.002

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Aikaterini A. Tsiara
Third Department of Neurology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Vanessa Farsadaki corresponding author
[1] Space Exploration Strategies, LLC, Hawthorne, California, USA; [2] The British Interplanetary Society, London, UK; [3] Kepler Space University, Orlando, Florida, USA; [4] Thunderbird School of Global Management, Glendale, Arizona, USA

Abstract

Over the past 75 years, studies on the biological effects of spaceflight has advanced from pioneering organism survival experiments to analyses integrating multi-omics technologies. This review adopts a historical perspective to synthesize these findings, with two core objectives: identifying recurrent mechanistic themes of space-induced biological alterations and evaluating strategies for preserving genomic stability during future deep-space exploration. The synergistic effects of weightlessness and ionizing radiation are primary drivers of heritable mutations, DNA damage clustering, and impaired repair fidelity. Longitudinal monitoring of astronauts, including twin-based comparative studies, has uncovered persistent molecular signatures such as altered methylation patterns, telomere dynamics changes, and immune regulation shifts. Targeted countermeasures developed include antioxidant supplementation, radioprotective pharmacology, genome editing, and synthetic biology-based therapeutics. Advances in portable sequencing and in-flight biomarker assessment enable real-time risk evaluation and adaptive health management during missions. As exploration extends to prolonged deep-space travel, ethical considerations like genetic data privacy and potential selection criteria gain prominence. This review integrates seven decades of cumulative discoveries, clarifying key targets and pathways for genomic stability protection. It provides a scientific foundation for personalized genomic monitoring, mechanistic risk assessment, and integrated prevention strategies, offering a roadmap for safeguarding biological integrity in future interplanetary expeditions.

Keywords
oxidative stress, telomere dynamics, DNA repair pathways, epigenetic regulation, genomic countermeasures, astronaut health, deep-space missions

Article Details

How to Cite
Tsiara, A. A., & Farsadaki, V. (2025). From Fruit Flies to Genomics: Seventy-Five Years of Unraveling Spaceflight’s Impact on Life. Journal of Molecular Astrobiology and Space Medicine Research, 1(1), 8-19. https://doi.org/10.25082/JMASMR.2025.01.002
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