In the 1960s, NASA set out to put a man on the moon. In the 2030s, NASA plans to boldly go where no man has gone before: with help from researchers at Utah State University.
Biological Engineering Associate Professor Yu Huang and Ph.D. candidate Bailey McFarland have dedicated countless hours to researching the effects of space on the human mind to prepare NASA astronauts for this roughly three-year expedition to Mars.
McFarland, a 2021 recipient of the NASA Space Technology Graduate Research program, which Huang serves on as lead researcher and advisor, received funding to study the effects of gamma radiation and microgravity on the human brain while in space. To do this, McFarland and Huang used stem cells to grow brain organoids - a small organ roughly one millimeter in diameter that mimics the processes, structures and appearance of the human brain.
Organoids allow scientists to ethically and economically research the effects of radiation and microgravity without sending a person into space. One group of organoids are exposed to micro doses of radiation over a long period of time while the other is cultured in a movement that replicates microgravity in space.
“NASA needs to know how the human brain will respond to radiation when someone is in space for that long,” said McFarland. “This research will show how the brain responds to fight back against radiation with its own natural systems.”
Read the full story here: www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-r...
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