Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: UC San Diego (Video)
Episode: Space-Based Research: Predicting and Preventing Accelerated Stem Cell Aging and Cancer Evolution with Catriona Jamieson - Sanford Stem Cell Symposium 2024
Description: Catriona Jamieson, M.D., Ph.D., discusses pioneering research on cancer and aging in space environments, highlighting how microgravity accelerates cancer cell growth and leads to stem cell exhaustion, genomic instability, and “dark genome” activation. Using innovative tools like nano-bioreactors and artificial intelligence, her team simulates these effects and tracks cellular changes, uncovering how space’s unique conditions drive mutations and alter cellular behavior. They find that stem cells rapidly proliferate but then become exhausted in space, a process tied to telomere shortening and mitochondrial stress, impacting cell longevity and regenerative potential. Through collaborations with NASA and industry partners, Jamieson’s resear...