npj Microgravity (May 2024)

How to obtain an integrated picture of the molecular networks involved in adaptation to microgravity in different biological systems?

  • Craig R. G. Willis,
  • Marco Calvaruso,
  • Debora Angeloni,
  • Sarah Baatout,
  • Alexandra Benchoua,
  • Juergen Bereiter-Hahn,
  • Daniele Bottai,
  • Judith-Irina Buchheim,
  • Eugénie Carnero-Diaz,
  • Sara Castiglioni,
  • Duccio Cavalieri,
  • Gabriele Ceccarelli,
  • Alexander Chouker,
  • Francesca Cialdai,
  • Gianni Ciofani,
  • Giuseppe Coppola,
  • Gabriella Cusella,
  • Andrea Degl’Innocenti,
  • Jean-Francois Desaphy,
  • Jean-Pol Frippiat,
  • Michael Gelinsky,
  • Giada Genchi,
  • Maria Grano,
  • Daniela Grimm,
  • Alain Guignandon,
  • Raúl Herranz,
  • Christine Hellweg,
  • Carlo Saverio Iorio,
  • Thodoris Karapantsios,
  • Jack van Loon,
  • Matteo Lulli,
  • Jeanette Maier,
  • Jos Malda,
  • Emina Mamaca,
  • Lucia Morbidelli,
  • Andreas Osterman,
  • Aleksandr Ovsianikov,
  • Francesco Pampaloni,
  • Elizabeth Pavezlorie,
  • Veronica Pereda-Campos,
  • Cyrille Przybyla,
  • Petra Rettberg,
  • Angela Maria Rizzo,
  • Kate Robson-Brown,
  • Leonardo Rossi,
  • Giorgio Russo,
  • Alessandra Salvetti,
  • Chiara Risaliti,
  • Daniela Santucci,
  • Matthias Sperl,
  • Kevin Tabury,
  • Sara Tavella,
  • Christiane Thielemann,
  • Ronnie Willaert,
  • Monica Monici,
  • Nathaniel J. Szewczyk

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-024-00395-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 5

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Periodically, the European Space Agency (ESA) updates scientific roadmaps in consultation with the scientific community. The ESA SciSpacE Science Community White Paper (SSCWP) 9, “Biology in Space and Analogue Environments”, focusses in 5 main topic areas, aiming to address key community-identified knowledge gaps in Space Biology. Here we present one of the identified topic areas, which is also an unanswered question of life science research in Space: “How to Obtain an Integrated Picture of the Molecular Networks Involved in Adaptation to Microgravity in Different Biological Systems?” The manuscript reports the main gaps of knowledge which have been identified by the community in the above topic area as well as the approach the community indicates to address the gaps not yet bridged. Moreover, the relevance that these research activities might have for the space exploration programs and also for application in industrial and technological fields on Earth is briefly discussed.