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Question
What is the effect of microgravity on the coagulation system?
In microgravity, crystals grown in space without touching the walls of their containers are of markedly higher quality than Earth-grown crystals. This has been offered as an explanation for the changes seen in coagulating blood in microgravity. As an example, antithrombin crystals were used in experiments conducted by Dr. Daniel Carter of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. The antithrombin protein, which controls blood coagulation in human plasma, is very difficult to grow in Earth- based laboratories because of the forces of gravity. However, its successful growth in space made it possible to further define antithrombin's molecular model and understand how it works in the human body, which has important implications for medicine.
See http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/newsroom/news/releases/1997/97-008.html for more information.
October 29, 2001
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