{"id":713,"date":"2012-07-11T07:56:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T05:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kids.esa.int\/the_wonder_of_weightless_worms\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T00:31:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T22:31:27","slug":"the_wonder_of_weightless_worms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kids.esa.int\/fr\/the_wonder_of_weightless_worms\/","title":{"rendered":"Des vers dans l\u2019espace"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lede\">\n<p>De nombreuses cr\u00e9atures ont accompagn\u00e9 les astronautes dans l\u2019espace. Tout comme nous, leur adaptation \u00e0 l\u2019impesanteur est souvent difficile. Le Caenorhabditis elegans est une esp\u00e8ce de ver qui fait figure d\u2019exception, et qui semble m\u00eame mieux vivre dans l\u2019espace que sur Terre.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>En 2004, l\u2019astronaute de l\u2019ESA Andr\u00e9 Kuipers n\u2019\u00e9tait pas le seul \u00e0 embarquer pour la Station spatiale internationale (ISS). Plusieurs Caenorhabditis elegans ont fait le voyage avec lui. Ces vers microscopiques ont \u00e9t\u00e9 s\u00e9lectionn\u00e9s car c\u2019est la premi\u00e8re forme de vie complexe poss\u00e9dant un g\u00e9nome (le mat\u00e9riel g\u00e9n\u00e9tique d\u2019un \u00eatre vivant) \u00e0 avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 enti\u00e8rement s\u00e9quenc\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>Les chercheurs ont alors d\u00e9couvert que sept des g\u00e8nes de ces vers \u00e9taient moins actifs dans l\u2019espace. \u00c9tonnamment, les vers semblaient tr\u00e8s bien s\u2019en passer, ce qui laisserait \u00e0 penser que leurs muscles s\u2019\u00e9taient adapt\u00e9s \u00e0 la vie dans l\u2019espace. Cela signifierait-il que les vols spatiaux ralentissent le vieillissement musculaire ?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-natural\" data-width=\"397\" data-credit=\"Wormatlas\" data-detail-url=\"https:\/\/www.esa.int\/ESA_Multimedia\/Images\/2004\/02\/I_C._elegans_I\" data-licence=\"ESA Standard Licence\" data-licence-url=\"https:\/\/www.esa.int\/ESA_Multimedia\/Terms_and_conditions_of_use_of_images_and_videos_available_on_the_esa_website\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2004\/02\/i_c._elegans_i\/17904194-2-eng-GB\/I_C._elegans_I.jpg\" alt=\"I&gt;C. elegans\/I&gt;\"><figcaption><i>C. elegans<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Des exp\u00e9riences en laboratoire ont confirm\u00e9 que d\u2019autres Caenorhabditis elegans ont v\u00e9cu des vies plus longues et plus saines sans ces sept g\u00e8nes. L\u2019\u00eatre humain partageant 55 % de son mat\u00e9riel g\u00e9n\u00e9tique avec ces vers, la deuxi\u00e8me \u00e9tape de cette \u00e9tude consistait \u00e0 \u00e9tudier l\u2019adaptation des muscles humains \u00e0 la vie dans l\u2019espace.<\/p>\n<p>Au cours de sa deuxi\u00e8me mission \u00e0 bord de l\u2019ISS, qui a pris fin le 1er juillet dernier, Andr\u00e9 a emport\u00e9 avec lui un plus grand nombre de vers. Mais, cette fois-ci, l\u2019astronaute a \u00e9galement fait l\u2019objet d\u2019une \u00e9tude. Avant le d\u00e9but de sa mission, un \u00e9chantillon musculaire a \u00e9t\u00e9 pr\u00e9lev\u00e9 sur l\u2019une de ses jambes \u00e0 des fins d\u2019analyse. Les chercheurs vont aujourd\u2019hui pouvoir comparer cet \u00e9chantillon avec l\u2019\u00e9tat musculaire de l\u2019astronaute apr\u00e8s six mois dans l\u2019espace. Cependant, et contrairement aux vers, on accordera \u00e0 Andr\u00e9 plusieurs semaines de repos avant que ses muscles ne soient \u00e9tudi\u00e9s.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many different creatures have joined astronauts in space. Like people, most of them find it hard to adapt to weightlessness. One exception is a tiny worm, known as C. elegans, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"esa_banner_image":"https:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2012\/07\/nematode_worm2\/17911232-2-eng-GB\/Nematode_worm.gif","esa_banner_description":"Nematode worm","esa_banner_credit":"Creative Commons ShareAlike license\u2013B. 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