A research team at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) has identified biological mechanisms and genes that appear to be consistently affected by microgravity, according to Professor George Spyrou, the institute's Bioinformatics ERA Chair and head of its Bioinformatics Department, who led the study. Speaking to CNA, Spyrou said the research focuses on how the space environment affects the human body at the cellular and molecular level, an increasingly pressing question as human presence in space becomes longer term.
The team analysed large-scale gene expression datasets from human cells exposed to microgravity, aiming to identify which genes change their activity, which cellular functions are disrupted, and which biological mechanisms play a central role in the body's response to spaceflight. The analysis focused on processes including oxidative stress, inflammation, cardiac function and the cellular defence systems that guard against damage, while computational methods were also used to explore whether existing drugs might be repurposed to counter some of these effects.
Spyrou said the findings suggest the space environment affects the human body more deeply than previously thought, with changes occurring not only at the physiological level but also in cells and gene regulation. Microgravity, higher radiation exposure and oxidative stress appear to place cells under sustained biological pressure, he said, with genes and molecular pathways tied to cardiovascular function, inflammation, cellular repair and stress defence consistently affected. Some of these changes, he added, appear to persist even after astronauts return to Earth, suggesting spaceflight may leave a longer-lasting biological footprint than previously assumed. Spyrou cautioned that the findings are based mainly on computational analysis of existing datasets and will require substantial experimental validation.
Beyond the research itself, Spyrou's team developed an open-access online database and analysis platform bringing together space biology data, intended to help researchers explore the field more efficiently. He said many of the mechanisms studied, including inflammation, cellular stress responses and cardiovascular dysfunction, are also implicated in common diseases on Earth, meaning insights from the extreme environment of space could feed back into broader disease research.
The work grew out of a collaboration between CING and the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO), initiated at the invitation of CSEO president George Danos, which led to the establishment of the Cyprus Space Research and Innovation Centre (C-SpaRC). The centre, funded through the Research and Innovation Foundation's Strategic Infrastructures programme, has been placed under the auspices of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) as an International Space Innovation Centre. "Our findings add a small but meaningful piece to the broader effort," Spyrou said, in understanding how the human body copes with spaceflight.
Source: CNA
