Routine omics collection is a golden opportunity for European human research in space and analog environments

Henry Cope; Craig R G Willis; Matthew J MacKay; Lindsay A Rutter; Li Shean Toh; Philip M Williams; Raúl Herranz; Joseph Borg; Daniela Bezdan; Stefania Giacomello; Masafumi Muratani; Christopher E Mason; Timothy Etheridge; Nathaniel J Szewczyk

doi:10.1016/j.patter.2022.100550

Routine omics collection is a golden opportunity for European human research in space and analog environments

Patterns (N Y). 2022 Jul 30;3(10):100550. doi: 10.1016/j.patter.2022.100550. eCollection 2022 Oct 14.

Authors

Henry Cope¹, Craig R G Willis^{2

3

4}, Matthew J MacKay⁵, Lindsay A Rutter⁶, Li Shean Toh⁷, Philip M Williams⁷, Raúl Herranz⁸, Joseph Borg⁹, Daniela Bezdan^{10

11

12}, Stefania Giacomello¹³, Masafumi Muratani⁶, Christopher E Mason^{5

14

15

16}, Timothy Etheridge¹⁷, Nathaniel J Szewczyk^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Derby DE22 3DT, UK.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA.
³ Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Biosciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK.
⁵ Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
⁶ Transborder Medical Research Center, and Department of Genome Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan.
⁷ School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
⁸ Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas (CSIC), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
⁹ Department of Applied Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta.
¹⁰ Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
¹¹ NGS Competence Center Tübingen (NCCT), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
¹² yuri GmbH, Meckenbeuren, Germany.
¹³ Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 17165 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁴ The HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁶ The Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Sport and Health Science, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2LU, UK.

Abstract

Widespread generation and analysis of omics data have revolutionized molecular medicine on Earth, yet its power to yield new mechanistic insights and improve occupational health during spaceflight is still to be fully realized in humans. Nevertheless, rapid technological advancements and ever-regular spaceflight programs mean that longitudinal, standardized, and cost-effective collection of human space omics data are firmly within reach. Here, we consider the practicality and scientific return of different sampling methods and omic types in the context of human spaceflight. We also appraise ethical and legal considerations pertinent to omics data derived from European astronauts and spaceflight participants (SFPs). Ultimately, we propose that a routine omics collection program in spaceflight and analog environments presents a golden opportunity. Unlocking this bright future of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven analyses and personalized medicine approaches will require further investigation into best practices, including policy design and standardization of omics data, metadata, and sampling methods.

Keywords: European Space Agency; GDPR; International Space Station; artificial intelligence; astronaut ethics; biobank; commercial spaceflight; longitudinal monitoring; multiomics; personalized medicine.

Publication types

Review