Looks like space travel may cause cancer

www.msn.com...=3
Well, folks, it looks like space travel is causing DNA or gene mutations and may be linked to higher risk of all kinds of cancer. My thoughts for posting this is, will space travel cause us to have an even higher risk of cancer on top of more weird gene editing/mutations?

A paragraph from the article: (sorry for the link. Didn't realize it was a slide show deal)
"The presence of these mutations does not necessarily mean that the astronauts will develop cardiovascular disease or cancer, but there is the risk that, over time, this could happen through ongoing and prolonged exposure to the extreme environment of deep space," said Goukassian.

edit on 13-9-2022 by AOx6179 because: Added information

a reply to: AOx6179

So does flying in jet liners, more for the crew than the passangers.

Frequent flyer mutation miles anyone?

So were stuck

GREAT

a reply to: AOx6179

Looks like space travel may cause cancer

There is a lot of radiation in space....

That's one of things the article was saying. Long exposure to radiation.
The DNA mutation aspect was particularly interesting to me.a reply to: SirHardHarry

This has been known ever since 1961 with the debut of the Fantastic Four.

originally posted by: TritonTaranis
So were stuck

GREAT

Not necessarily.

Horses are used to produce anti-venom and black cats contain an MC1R gene that provide them a higher resistance to disease. I'm sure there's some type of flora or fauna in our world that could help humans resist radiation/cancer in a similar fashion.

Also, we may have to comprise our spacecrafts out of rock. Oumuamua comes to mind.

Not exactly.

Like all science these days, including weather reports, all "causes" are expressed as probabilities. Space travel may give you a "higher chance" of getting cancer, but that doesn't mean you will. It's just like a woman getting pregnant. The older a woman is, the higher chance she will have offspring that has a genetic defect such as mongolism. So when people get into a situation like this, they are "pushing the envelope." So it is a matter of assessing risk and weighing that risk against the benefits. It is very possible that you could enjoy (cough) a career traveling in space and not get cancer. But even if you lived in a cave protected from the sun all your life, you could still get cancer. There are lots of factors that contribute to that possibility, including genetic factors as well as environmental ones.

If you refuse to get into a canoe to cross the river because you might fall out and drown, then you'd best stay on the "safe" side. You're not stuck unless you want to be. See ya!

They have been aware of this for many years now, but it was always considered an association because they could not figure out why it was happening. Associations are associations until cause and effect can be established. They must have recently established cause and effect.

a reply to: schuyler

Sorry for derping. It's rarely called mongolism anymore. You either here trisomie21 or down syndrom... I'll let you figure out why...

Great input, thanks.
I'm still wondering about the DNA mutation. I wasn't able to understand what that meant, or could mean. And yeah, seems like the wind blowing can give someone cancer.a reply to: schuyler

trisomie21...that's notable.a reply to: Terpene

Well slap on a anti radiation suit then ?

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: schuyler

Sorry for derping. It's rarely called mongolism anymore. You either here trisomie21 or down syndrom... I'll let you figure out why...

Oh, no! Did I offend thee? You said "rarely." Well, this is one of those rare times. I've never heard of "trisomie21." You must be an expert.

...makes my life a *liddle* bit easier!

a reply to: schuyler

No, I'm not from Mongolia.
No expert either, but you learn a thing or two along the way... No shame in that

We old folks like to hold on to our outdated vocabulary, even if it makes us sound like, well,...old?

I guess