nuclear-news

Radiation resistance in humans and animals is something we know little about, although we know it exists. At the moment, resistance tests are used to try and predict how much radiation cancer patients can survive, but one day this could be an important decider of who gets to venture into space.

Our Earth is protected from the harmful radiation from the Sun by our magnetic field, but astronauts that leave the planet will be bombarded with the dangerous particles…..

 it’s not impossible that in the future, humans could be gene-edited to better withstand the harshness of space; not limited to the radiation. …….

The lenses in our eyes are one of the most sensitive parts of the body when it comes to exposure to radiation. Astronauts, who are exposed to dangerous levels of space radiation, and survivors of atomic bombs and accidents such as Chernobyl, have been shown to be much more susceptible to a condition called radiation cataracts.

This special type of cataract, which was seen for the first time in a rabbit in 1897, is easy to detect because it grows from the back of the lens. Exactly what causes it is unknown, but the current best explanation is that it forms because of DNA damage.

……..If radiation-resistant humans are sent to Mars, this would make an interesting pot of humans from which new traits could evolve separately from those on Earth.