Clemson Students Conduct Bone-loss Research on Shuttle Endeavour
Members of the Clemson bioengineering department were at the Kennedy Space Center in August, conducting research on mice that flew on the 13-day Endeavour shuttle mission. The team was studying bone loss as part of a larger study of effects of microgravity on the body. Currently, crewmembers lose up to 2 percent of their skeletal mass each month during International Space Station missions and bone strength declines with each month in space.
“Earlier research showed that astronauts experience bone loss on extended missions, even when they exercise, due to microgravity. These studies may one day help space travelers retain their bone mass and strength during long-duration flights,” said Ted Bateman, assistant professor of bioengineering. “And the results have the potential to help bone-loss patients here on Earth.”
 The results of this research could be applied toward minimizing the risk of fracture in crewmembers during exploratory missions to the moon and Mars. It also will help scientists better understand the molecular causes of bone loss in space and could have far-reaching impact in research on overall bone health.
Clemson is a co-investigator in the study, sponsored by Amgen Inc. in partnership with BioServe Space Technologies, a NASA-sponsored Research Partnership Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
This is the second time Clemson University faculty and students in bioengineering have participated in shuttle flight research. In prior studies, Bateman and his team (http://www.batemanlab.com/) examined a natural protein, osteoprotegerin, with Amgen and Bioserve. The Bateman group tested this protein, which prevents bone loss, in mice on space shuttle flight STS-108 in 2001. Denosumab, a modification of osteoprotegerin, is currently in Phase III FDA trials (human testing).
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