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t m c » p u l s e | a p r i l 2 0 1 6 17 The second of the physiology studies involves proteomics—the study of the structure and function of proteins—to understand fluid shifts in the body and the potential association of those shifts with visual impairment and intracranial pressure. Without gravity to pull fluids like blood down toward the legs, the balance of the body's fluids changes, which may explain the altered vision so many astronauts describe after several months in space and after returning to Earth. A third study covers behavioral health. Understandably, long dura- tion space flight, characterized by a confined and foreign environment, the absence of friends and family, and few if any creature comforts, could provoke fluctuations in men- tal capacity and overall function. This investigation, organized by the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in conjunction with Pulsar Informatics, a tech company that creates tools to measure behavioral performance, hopes to identify some of the effects spaceflight may have on perception and reasoning as well as decision- making and alertness. Another investigation, man- aged by Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Illinois, covers microbiology and the microbiome, which is the study of the microbial ecosystem within the human body. The microbiome is often cited as a "second human genome" and has been heralded as the key to ground- breaking new treatments for a wide variety of common conditions and diseases. This investigation will utilize metagenomics sequencing to compare the microbiome in the GI tracts of the twins to determine how their dietary differences and unique stressors may affect the interplay of the trillions of tiny organisms living in their guts. The remaining six research investigations fall under a broad category known as omics, a field of molecular study that takes into account the integrative nature of various biological forces, many of which happen to end in the suffix "-omics" (think genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics and metabolomics). These investigations will examine genetic changes between the twins as well as variations in proteins and metabolites in biological samples such as blood, saliva, urine and stool, covering a broad spectrum of analysis including whole genome sequencing, epigenetics, biochem- ical profiles and immune response, among others. One of the omics studies, run by NASA and Colorado State University, will take a comprehen- sive look at the telomeres in Scott and Mark's DNA and the telomer- ase concentrations in their cells. Telomeres are regions of repetitive nucleotide sequences that serve as "caps" at the end of each chromo- some, intended to protect the end of the strands of DNA during repli- cation. Over time, as an organism ages and its chromosomes engage in ongoing replication, its telomeres become shorter. Thus, measuring a person's telomere length will indicate a true age of that person's cells—researchers believe that telo- mere length will be based not only on age as it relates to time but also on environmental factors such as diet, radiation exposure, disease or a host of other stressors. By comparing Mark's and Scott's telomeres, scientists may get a glimpse at the molecular-level effects of space travel on cellular O N A V E R A G E , I S the I N T E R N AT I O N A L S PA C E S TAT I O N 2 20 M I L E S A B O V E E A R T H ' S S U R FA C E