12
Space: the quantum frontier?

This page provides online resources relating to Chapter 12 of Quantum Biology: A Glimpse into the Future of Medicine. Read a chapter extract, or scroll down to access figures and terminology, additional resources published by The Guy Foundation, and a list of further reading.

Name of the Chapter

Subheading

As I’ve said throughout this book, we believe that it is possible to explain nearly all the observations that have been reported in areas such as organ expansion, inflammatory processes, accelerated ageing and degenerative changes in cells, by mitochondrial dysfunction. We now understand the mitochondrion not as a biological organelle, but more as a mathematical and physical construct. There can be little doubt that we are altering the physics around it massively by taking it from the surface of the Earth to somewhere out in space. But published accurate figures are scarce.

… There is no point in just saying that theoretically these activities could inflict damage on people. We need a clear picture.

Buy the book here

A Faraday cage is designed to block out electromagnetic radiation. It is named after the nineteenth-century British physicist Michael Faraday, who discovered magnetic induction – the principle which lies at the heart of electric motors.

It is based on the principle that an electromagnetic field cannot pass through something which is conducting electricity. A microwave oven is a form of a Faraday cage, since it keeps microwaves trapped inside the machine as it heats the food. MRI scanners use Faraday cages to prevent radio signals from interfering with their operation.

The internationally accepted unit of measurement for the intensity of a magnetic field is the tesla (T). It is named in honour of the physicist, electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla. A medical MRI scanner has a field strength of between 1.5T and 3T, while the magnetic field strength required to levitate a frog would be about 16T. The Earth’s natural magnetic field is about 25 to 65 millionths of a tesla (microteslas or μT).

2024 Space Health Report

The health hazards of space travel: novel insights from quantum biology

October 2024

The Guy Foundation’s report was written in conjunction with its Space Health Working Group. The report’s principal conclusion is that humans venturing into space may face more serious health hazards than previously thought. Conditions such as accelerated ageing, the development of insulin resistance, early diabetes and reproductive issues are likely to get worse the further we travel from Earth. These effects may be difficult or impossible to reverse and, if confirmed by research, will call into question the viability of human exploration in deep space. They appear to be associated with the disruption of cellular bioenergetics, which could also have other perhaps more worrying health consequences.

Read the report here.

2023 Autumn Series Proceedings

Quantum Biology and Space Health

December 2023

The Guy Foundation convened the Autumn Series of online lectures on space biology and health to develop an understanding of the possible effects of the altered electromagnetic and gravitational environments that are seen beyond low Earth orbit, on physiology and health. We believe an improved understanding would assist those considering how best to mitigate these effects in space and would also bring valuable new insights for our understanding of biology and health on Earth.

Find out more, or read the proceedings here.

2023 Space Symposium Proceedings

Advancing terrestrial health: lessons from space

February 2023

The Guy Foundation facilitates thinking and research into how quantum biology and a deeper understanding of electromagnetic effects might be able to improve our ability to practise medicine. The Foundation has long had an interest in how lessons from aerospace medicine might be applied to health on Earth and indeed to humans as a potentially multi-planetary species.

Find out more, or read the proceedings here.

Videos

The Guy Foundation 2023 Autumn Series

Roundtable meeting

Dr Betony Adams, The Guy Foundation and University of Stellenbosch

The Guy Foundation 2023 Space Symposium

Are humans trapped on Earth?

Professor Geoffrey Guy, The Guy Foundation
Professor Alistair Nunn, The Guy Foundation and University of Westminster

The Guy Foundation 2023 Space Symposium

Mitochondria in space - the data in a nutshell

Dr Afshin Beheshti, NASA Ames Research Center

The Guy Foundation 2023 Space Symposium

Overview of magnetic fields in biology

Betony Adams, The Guy Foundation and University of Stellenbosch

The Guy Foundation 2023 Space Symposium

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and stem cells

Professor Wendy Beane, Western Michigan University

The Guy Foundation 2023 Autumn Series

Mitochondria and space

Professor Douglas C Wallace, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute
Dr Afshin Beheshti, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science

The Guy Foundation 2023 Autumn Series

Microgravity and radiation effects

Dr David Furman, Buck Institute for Research on Aging
Professor Christopher D Porada, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine

The Guy Foundation 2023 Autumn Series

Potential effects of magnetic fields

Professor Jonathan Woodward, The University of Tokyo
Professor Wendy Beane, Western Michigan University

The Guy Foundation 2023 Autumn Series

Quantum gravity and inertial stresses

Dr Nathan Babcock, Howard University
Professor Vlatko Vedral, University of Oxford

The Guy Foundation 2023 Space Symposium

Overview of oscillating gravitational fields in biology

Steve Thorne, The Copernican Project

The Guy Foundation 2023 Space Symposium

Microgravity and its effect on human physiology

Professor Alistair Nunn, The Guy Foundation and University of Westminster

The Guy Foundation 2022 Autumn Series

Mitochondria and fields: implications for space exploration

Dr Afshin Beheshti, NASA Ames Research Center

The Guy Foundation 2022 Autumn Series

Mitochondria and magnetic fields, spin and reactive oxygen species

Professor Clarice Aiello, UCLA
Professor Wendy Beane, Western Michigan University

The Guy Foundation 2022 Autumn Series

Mitochondrial dysfunction: relevance for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and long COVID

Professor Karl Morten, University of Oxford

Also visit The Guy Foundation YouTube Channel Mitochondria Playlist

Mitochondria are double membrane-bound organelles found in most eukaryotic cells. They are thought to have evolved from bacteria. Electron transport chains in mitochondrial membranes generate proton gradients that drive the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), whose energy-rich bonds fuel most cellular processes. It was thought their primary purpose was purely respiration, which is the process of extracting energy via electron transport from food to oxygen. However, they are now known to be key in generating precursor molecules for growth and suppression of oxidative stress, as well as acting as signalling hubs via ROS and calcium manipulation, and they play key roles in immunity and inflammation, and thus ageing.

See the Playlist.

Walter F. Boron and Emile L. Boulpaep, Medical Physiology (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2016)

Willian A. da Silveira, Hossein Fazelinia, Sara Brin Rosenthal et al., ‘Comprehensive multi-omics analysis reveals mitochondrial stress as a central biological hub for spaceflight impact’, Cell 183:5 (2020), doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.11.002

Noburu Ikeya and Jonathan R. Woodward, ‘Cellular autofluorescence is magnetic field sensitive’, PNAS 118:3 (2021), doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2018043118

Xiaohua Lei, Yujing Cao, Baohua Ma et al., ‘Development of mouse preimplantation embryos in space’, National Science Review 7:9 (2020), doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa062

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Thriving in Space: Ensuring the Future of Biological and Physical Sciences Research: A Decadal Survey for 2023–2032 (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2023), doi.org/10.17226/26750

Steve Thorne, ‘Modeling the role of gravitation in metabolic processes’, Communicative & Integrative Biology 14:1 (2021), doi.org/10.1080/19420889.2021.1914913

Alanna V. van Huizen, Jacob M. Morton, Luke J. Kinsey et al, ‘Weak magnetic fields alter stem cell-mediated growth’, Science Advances 5:1 (2019), doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau7201

Bingfang Zhang, Lei Wang, Aisheng Zhan et al., ‘Long-term exposure to a hypomagnetic field attenuates adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition’, Nature Communications 12 (2021), doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21468-x

12Space: the quantum frontier?

12
Space: the quantum frontier?