| Title: | Regeneration in a space analog environment |
| Authors: | Victoria Ariel Rendon, Author |
| Material Type: | ISU Individual Project |
| Publisher: | Illkirch-Graffenstaden (France) : International Space University, 2022 |
| Size: | 1 electronic resource (35 p.) / col. ill. |
| Bibliography note: | Includes bibliographical references |
| Languages: | English |
| Description: | Despite many countermeasures in space missions, injuries can occur and it is important to understand how cellular regeneration occurs in the space environment, such as radiation, microgravity and reduced magnetic fields, can impact it. The scope of this project focused on the seldom-studied reduced magnetic field environment aspect of spaceflight mission and how it impacts planarian regeneration. Planarians were used due to them being a well-established model of regeneration. Using Girardia tigrina, I conducted a series of typical regeneration experiments according to well-documented methods. Each of the worms were sectioned into three segments, above and below the pharynx, creating a head, body, and tail segment. Over the 15 days needed for complete regeneration, I measured survival, blastema growth, fission, and abnormal morphologies. Two groups were formed, one exposed to a low magnetic environment inside a custom-made mu-metal chamber (2μT, 2 hours daily), and the other, a sham exposure in a similar container that blocked light similarly but had no effect on magnetic field (45μT). Data analysis showed that there were no differences in blastema growth between the control and experimental group, although certain studies have shown that reduced magnetic fields can affect stem cell division. Aside from regeneration, the data reveled there to be differences in survival rates between the control and experimental group, with the control group having higher survival rates. That being said, it was observed that the control group had higher incidences of fission than the experimental group. More experimentation needs to be done in order to provide more accurate values. |
| ISU program : | Master of Space Studies |
| Permalink: | https://isulibrary.isunet.edu/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=11534 |
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