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Spending a month on the International Space Station remains an unfulfilled dream for many. Only a few astronauts are allowed to go into space. This adventure has also come true for twelve mouse oaks from Japan. As mouse astronauts, they were allowed into weightlessness. The whole thing, of course, served a scientific purpose. As part of a study by the Japanese space agency Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Tohoku University, the rodents were brought to the ISS in 2018 aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from Elon Musk's space company SpaceX.

The Japanese researchers wanted to observe how the mice behave under the cosmic conditions.

They focused on one protein in particular: Nrf2.

The protein had shown promise in previous studies: Among other things, it prevents the development of cancer and activates a number of protective genes in our body.

For comparison, half of the mouse team were genetically modified so that they no longer carried the Nrf2 protein, while the other half still had it.

Source: Unsplash.com/Silje Roseneng

After all the rodents had landed back on earth healthy, the scientists were astonished: The animals with the Nrf2 protein in their bodies had survived the hardships in space much better and showed fewer signs of aging in their blood counts.

So do mice have the protein to stay young forever?

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The biologists published their results in the journal “Nature” and speculate what these research results could mean for us humans.

Previous studies have already shown that just a short time under the extreme conditions in space accelerates the aging process in the human body considerably.

The bone density decreases, the immune system is less resistant.

None of this happened in the mice with the miracle protein Nrf2.

The Japanese researchers therefore believe that the protein building block may not only make traveling in orbit more pleasant for many astronauts in the future, but could also generally help against aging - and thus also against some diseases that go hand in hand with it, such as Alzheimer's or dementia.

In other words: the astro mice could be the key to eternal youth and thus fulfill a human dream.

The research team wants to develop a Nrf2 protein therapy.

The aim is to treat people who suffer from classic diseases at an advanced age for which there is no cure at all.

This would bring research a great deal closer to antiaging.

This article was first published in November 2020.