Our team has also worked closely with NASA’s Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory on experiments in space. We have collaborated in experiments regarding bone density, calcium kinetics and bone mass loss in space. These experiments were largely conducted on the Mir space station in the mid- to late- 90s, and have been important in helping to understand bone metabolism mechanisms (the way bone is broken down and reformed) and the effect of weightlessness on this process. Dr. Scott Smith, the primary investigator at the NBL and close partner of our team, describes one of the major goals of the NBL as determining the nutritional needs of astronauts in long-term space flight.

Relevant publications:

Smith SM, Wastney ME, Morukov BV, Larina IM, Nyquist LE, Abrams SA, Taran EN, Shih CY, Nillen JL, Davis-Street JE, Rice BL, Lane HW. Calcium metabolism before, during, and after a 3-mo space flight: kinetic and biochemical changes. Am J Physiol. 277 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 46): R1-R10. 1999
(Abstract :: Full text:html :: Full text:pdf )