Space Age Lettuce Could Counter Astronaut Bone Loss

Header image: This lettuce produces a bone-stimulating hormone that could help stave off bone loss in space and on Earth. Image credit: Kevin Yates

NASA plants to send humans to Mars sometime in the 2030s, but a 3-year mission will expose astronauts to a long period of microgravity, which causes them to lose bone mass.

But researchers have just presented results, at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), that suggest future astronauts could guard against bone loss simply by eating a big bowl of salad.

They’ve developed a transgenic variety of lettuce that produces a bone-stimulating hormone, which could also help stave off osteoporosis in resource-limited areas here on Earth.

0:33 Hello, I’m Laura Cassiday from the American Chemical Society. Welcome to this media briefing from ACS Spring 2022. NASA is preparing to send humans to Mars sometime in the 2030s. The three-year mission will expose astronauts to a long period of microgravity which will cause them to lose bone mass. But now, scientists report transgenic lettuce that produces a bone stimulating hormone. Someday astronauts could grow the lettuce in space and help guard against bone loss simply by eating a big bowl of salad. In addition, the lettuce might help stave off osteoporosis in resource-limited areas here on Earth, the researchers say. We’re joined today by Dr Karen McDonald Kevin Yates from the University of California, Davis. Thank you for joining us. So why do astronauts lose bone mass in space?

1:29 Kevin Yates: In microgravity, there are a number of physiological effects on the human body, one of which is the reduction in bone mineral density. So normally, in the gravity of Earth, the body constantly breaks down bone and rebuilds it to