NASA astronaut Scott Kelly spent nearly a year in space so the agency could study the long-term effects on the human body, in preparation for longer missions that could one day take us to Mars and beyond. Upon his return, he discovered his overall health was not to be what it used to be — and NASA had a Kelly replica at home to compare Scott against. That’s his twin brother, Mark, an astronaut who stayed on Earth while his brother was circling our planet.
The early conclusions of a recent NASA study implied that Scott’s DNA has been altered by 7%, which seemed to be a startling discovery of what space can do to the human body. However, that’s a wrong interpretation of NASA’s announcements. It turns out that while Scott’s DNA was affected by exposure to space, his DNA is still nearly identical to his brother’s, as it should be.
What NASA really discovered is that, while DNA mutations were observed after Scott’s return from space, it was his gene expression that changed by 7%, compared to his brother. However, the agency’s choice of words may have made it sound like Scott’s DNA was permanently altered. The agency updated that press release to make it clear that Scott and Mark are still identical twins. – READ MORE
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