GAINESVILLE, Fla., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have determined cosmic and solar radiation damages a type of stem cell in mice important for learning and memory.
The study findings point to the importance of protecting astronauts from health risks caused by space radiation during extended missions to the moon or Mars.
Researchers from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Kennedy Space Center and the University of Florida conducted the study
Scientists administered a single dose of radiation to the mice that was about equal to the amount astronauts would be exposed to during a three-year space voyage to Mars.
The radiation selectively killed two-thirds of a special type of stem cell in the hippocampus, a brain area critically important for learning and memory.
"We are going to have to rethink our understanding of stem cell susceptibility to radiation, including cosmic radiation encountered during space travel, as well as radiation doses that accompany different medical procedures," said Professor Dennis Steindler of the University of Florida, co-investigator of the study.
The findings appeared online in the journal Experimental Neurology.
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