Gravitational vegetable biology

The studies in this set of themes will contribute to in the comprehension of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the gravitropism and the gravimorphogenesis of the plants.

The repercussions of the fundamental study by genomic and proteomic approach can lead to the identification of genes and/or new proteins playing a fundamental part in the processes of growth and development. For this reason, the results of these studies could be used in strategies for improvement of the plants with agronomic interest.

The study of gravity impact on the formation and the quality of wood of Eucalyptus will have a significant commercial interest. This knowledge could be used for the handling of the lignins synthesis within the framework of the paper pulp manufacture.

Physiology and biology of the development

The organisms adaptation to an environmental component as fundamental as gravity is a major stake of biology and physiology. Moreover, the understanding of the effects of the gravitation constraint on the genes expression would constitute an essential contribution to the functional genomics, while enabling to understand how the environment modifies the genic expression. In the health domain, the control of the mutated mice models gives a possible opening, in the long term, on approaches of genic therapy.

Bone tissues

The research programmes in microgravity allowed the validation of a tomograph, able to analyze the three-dimensional micro-architecture at the level of the distal radius and tibiae: setting of normal values, modifications with the age, capacity to predict the fracture risk alone or in combination with the osseous mineral density and the blood or urinary osseous markers. Thanks to these analyzes, a better appreciation of osseous brittleness and a better definition of the osteoporosis risk are awaited.

Muscle

The identification of the qualitative or quantitative transformations of certain proteins, the identification of intracellular signals and neurotransmitters paves the way to repercussions in the pharmacology field. The manufacture of molecular tools (new antibodies for example) falls under the prospect of the discovery of new proteins synthesized from still unknown genes. The experiments in the field of mechanics and the muscular neurophysiology find their prolongation in the field of health by being used for the evaluation of functional rehabilitation programs for sportsmen, myopathes or according to the age.

Neurosciences

Several types of repercussions for research on the neurosciences are possible. They concern:

The functional exploration of the nervous system and the perceptive and sensorimotor functions among neurological, ophthalmologic, oto-rhino-laryngologic patients or in rheumatology;
The exploration of the development of these functions in the child and during ageing;
Development of methods for rehabilitation of the cognitive and sensorimotor functions, thanks to the cognitive tests and the return of effort;
Development thanks to the virtual reality of methods of cognitive therapies for certain psychiatric diseases as agoraphobia, the panic attacks or the space anxiety;
Development of techniques and methods for the study of the deficits of the space memory among neurological patients;
The realization of materials for the handicapped people, the development of principles and technologies for the interface between man and robots and the teleoperation, the development of methods of prevention of the motion sickness;
Applications to simulators: flight, car or simulation of work in extreme condition (submarines, nuclear factories).

Cardiovascular system

Research on the cardiovascular deadaptation allowed a better understanding of the mechanisms and factors contributing, on Earth, to orthostatic intolerance.

The uninterrupted records of the heart rate and the blood pressure made it possible to better understand the syncopes of the old subject and to better identify the risky subjects. The treatment of the ECG fluctuations and of the blood pressure is used to visualize the variation tendencies of these two data during a hospital orthostatic test and, in particular, to evaluate the sensitivity of the baroreflex. These records, sometimes ambulatory, were made possible thanks to the miniaturization required for the space programs.
The major role of distal arterial circulation was shown thanks to the space flights and to Bedrest. Noninvasive parameters to measure it were developed. A method of analysis of the liquid transfers from the vascular compartment towards muscular tissue (tissue characterization by ultrasounds) developed for the flights is currently used to evaluate the effectiveness of support stockings for venous insufficients.

Radiobiology

The repercussions of this research are, on one hand, in the development of new means of protection against radiation (for the people in flights at very high altitude and in space) and, on the other hand, in the more effective treatments of cancers by the radiotherapy and especially the hadrontherapy, which uses protons and accelerated heavy ions.

Nutrition

More and more of epidemiologic, clinical and experimental data show the catastrophic impact of sedentariness on the development of many chronic diseases. In the United States, a recent study showed that more than 400000 people deaths in the United States during the year 2000 were ascribable to inactivity.

Space research and the prolonged confinement (as well as containment) at present offer the only model of inactivity to the long term to test the effects of sedentariness on healthy subjects which will recover. Under these conditions, the noxious mechanisms of the inactivity leading to a pathological state can be studied. One endeavours in particular to determine the role of the inactivity in the deregulations of the lipidic balance contributing to the genesis of obesity.

Teleoperation and telediagnosis

The teleoperation of sophisticated gestures was applied to the microgravity research programmes in the field of the neurosciences and medicine. The development of a robotized arm to teleoperate, from the ground, an echographic examination on board the ISS found several applications on the ground. Several demonstrations using of telephone or satellite links proceeded successfully, linked to isolated sites in Europe.