What’s Different About Astronaut DNA?
Three researchers describe their findings in NASA’s study of identical twin brothers, one in space and one on Earth.
Chris Mason has never met Scott Kelly, but he knows all about his DNA.
Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, is one of the researchers participating in NASA’s twins study, an investigation of the effects of space travel on the human body. In 2015, Scott launched to the International Space Station for a 340-day stay while his identical brother Mark Kelly, also an astronaut, went about his life on Earth. For months, the brothers rolled up their sleeves for regular blood draws. Some samples beat Scott back to Earth, hitching a ride with other astronauts on their return trip on the Russian Soyuz.
“I’d go to bed at night and check Twitter and see he’d posted another amazing, beautiful view of Earth from space, and
