WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.059 So I want you to imagine something. You're about 00:00:04.059 --> 00:00:07.339 250 miles above Earth, just floating in a vacuum. 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:12.679 And you're packing for the ultimate most intensely 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:15.779 hostile business trip imaginable, a trip to space. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.460 The worst commute ever. Exactly. And you've got 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:21.859 your meticulously calculated rations, the specialized 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:24.339 pressure suit, all your communication gear. But 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:27.120 then, and this is where it gets scary, An emergency 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.960 happens. Oh boy. Yeah. You float over, you open 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:32.500 up this multi -million dollar medical kit. The 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:34.960 exact thing that is meant to keep you alive when 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.560 things go wrong up there. And looking at the 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:40.479 supplies, you suddenly realize this terrifying 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.149 oversight. Which is? That medical kit. It wasn't 00:00:43.149 --> 00:00:45.009 actually designed with your specific biology 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:47.929 in mind at all. Yeah. I mean, that forces you 00:00:47.929 --> 00:00:50.429 to confront a really unsettling reality because 00:00:50.429 --> 00:00:52.770 you are completely isolated from your home planet. 00:00:53.049 --> 00:00:55.770 And you're relying on these medical protocols 00:00:55.770 --> 00:00:59.130 and equipment that's based on a physiological 00:00:59.130 --> 00:01:01.130 baseline that just doesn't match your own body. 00:01:01.229 --> 00:01:04.430 Terrifying. It is. For decades, the default assumption 00:01:04.430 --> 00:01:08.569 in aerospace medicine was essentially a 1960s 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:11.840 male test pilot. Wow. Yeah, so if you didn't 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.599 fit that highly specific profile, the data simply 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:17.439 wasn't there. And that massive gap in our knowledge 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:20.219 is exactly what we are exploring in today's Deep 00:01:20.219 --> 00:01:22.439 Dive. We are working from a really fascinating 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:25.599 set of sources today, specifically centered around 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.840 a Wikipedia article detailing the career of Dr. 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:31.780 Varsha Jain. And the mission of this Deep Dive 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:35.280 is to explore how pushing the absolute boundaries 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.859 of human survival in like the most extreme environments, 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:42.480 can actually solve everyday medical mysteries 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.540 for you right here on Earth. Which is such a 00:01:44.540 --> 00:01:46.739 wild concept. We are looking at a fundamental 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:49.299 shift in how we understand human biology. And 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:51.079 it's being driven by someone who, essentially, 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.540 she looked at the existing medical establishment, 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:55.599 realized her specific interests just, well, they 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.239 didn't exist yet. And so she had to invent her 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:00.280 own medical specialty completely from the ground 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:03.900 up. I mean, whether you are fascinated by space 00:02:03.900 --> 00:02:07.200 exploration or you're just curious about how 00:02:07.049 --> 00:02:09.590 out -of -the -box medical breakthroughs happen, 00:02:10.430 --> 00:02:12.409 this deep dive is going to totally change how 00:02:12.409 --> 00:02:15.430 you view the human body's adaptability. Oh absolutely. 00:02:15.870 --> 00:02:18.229 But to understand how someone pioneers a brand 00:02:18.229 --> 00:02:20.490 new medical field, we have to start with how 00:02:20.490 --> 00:02:22.330 their imagination was first captured. Right. 00:02:22.449 --> 00:02:25.490 The origin story. Exactly. And for Dr. Jane, 00:02:25.830 --> 00:02:28.550 it didn't start in some sterile laboratory. It 00:02:28.550 --> 00:02:30.789 started in the Birmingham area, sitting in front 00:02:30.789 --> 00:02:32.729 of the television watching Star Trek with her 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:34.990 brothers. I love that so much. It's just a great 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:37.789 origin story. She's watching this iconic sci 00:02:37.789 --> 00:02:40.449 -fi universe, and she sees the character of Dr. 00:02:40.650 --> 00:02:42.900 Beverly Crusher. the chief medical officer in 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:45.639 the enterprise. Exactly. She sees this fictional 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:49.199 doctor handling alien diseases, dealing with 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.759 like zero gravity trauma, and she is just completely 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:54.939 inspired to become a doctor herself. But she 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:56.919 realizes very early on that she didn't want to 00:02:56.919 --> 00:03:00.180 be a normal physician. Like the standard everyday 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:02.620 terrestrial clinic just wasn't calling to her. 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:05.680 Right. The cosmos was. Which is a pretty bold 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:08.620 realization for a young student. Because, I mean, 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:11.219 there isn't exactly a standard career fair booth 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:13.620 for Starship Medical Officer. Yeah, you can't 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:16.939 exactly major in Starfleet. Right. But she found 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:19.900 a real world anchor for that sci -fi dream. So 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:23.259 in 2004, she attended the UK Space Biomedicine 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:27.180 Conference. and that event really cemented her 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:29.159 path. It made it real for her. Yeah, it showed 00:03:29.159 --> 00:03:31.620 her that the fictional world she loved actually 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:34.479 had a rigorous, highly scientific counterpart 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.520 in the real world. Okay, let's unpack this. Because 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:39.819 her educational foundation feels like this brilliant 00:03:39.819 --> 00:03:42.120 piece of reverse engineering. Oh, for sure. Think 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:44.280 about a standard medical path, right? Usually 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:46.280 you go to medical school, you learn standard 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:48.139 human anatomy, you become a standard doctor, 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:51.860 and then... maybe you decide to specialize in 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:54.419 how that anatomy reacts to an extreme environment, 00:03:54.939 --> 00:03:57.099 like a high -altitude mountain or space. Yeah, 00:03:57.240 --> 00:03:59.419 that's the traditional route. But she flipped 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:02.259 the script entirely. She actively used extreme 00:04:02.259 --> 00:04:04.539 environments as the foundational blueprint for 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:07.210 her whole medical training. The timeline of her 00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:10.229 degrees really illustrates that perfectly. In 00:04:10.229 --> 00:04:13.330 2006, she graduated from University College London 00:04:13.330 --> 00:04:15.789 with a Bachelor of Science focusing specifically 00:04:15.789 --> 00:04:19.430 on medicine in extreme environments. Wow. And 00:04:19.430 --> 00:04:21.810 she completed that specialized degree before 00:04:21.810 --> 00:04:24.670 she even graduated with her actual core medical 00:04:24.670 --> 00:04:27.230 degree from Imperial College London, which she 00:04:27.230 --> 00:04:30.930 finished in 2008. So why does that specific order 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:34.129 matter so much? Like, does learning the extreme 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:37.410 stuff first actually change how you practice 00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:40.209 basic medicine later on? It fundamentally changes 00:04:40.209 --> 00:04:41.970 your cognitive approach. I mean, traditional 00:04:41.970 --> 00:04:43.970 medical academia, it often creates this sort 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:46.920 of tunnel vision? How do you mean? Well, it teaches 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.639 you the rules of the body under normal earthbound 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:52.699 conditions. It assumes gravity and normal atmospheric 00:04:52.699 --> 00:04:54.980 pressure are just constants. Right, things we 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:56.879 don't even think about. Exactly. But extreme 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:58.860 environmental medicine teaches you what happens 00:04:58.860 --> 00:05:01.019 when you break literally all of those rules. 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:03.180 Does that make sense? Yeah. By starting there, 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:06.180 she built a multidisciplinary framework. She 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:08.660 learned to view the human body not as a static 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:11.040 machine that occasionally breaks down, but as 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.379 a highly adaptable system that is constantly 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:17.379 with its environment. So she is already primed 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:20.120 to look at environmental stressors as the actual 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:22.939 key to understanding biology. Exactly. And that 00:05:22.939 --> 00:05:25.439 foundation naturally led her to the ultimate 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.680 extreme environment, which is NASA. During her 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:31.180 medical school training in 2007, she managed 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:33.819 to secure a seven -week opportunity to study 00:05:33.819 --> 00:05:36.300 at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Which is a 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.620 huge deal. Oh. massive. But looking at the sources, 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:41.899 her initial focus there actually caught me off 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:44.660 guard. She worked with NASA's neuroscience research 00:05:44.660 --> 00:05:47.959 team, specifically studying how first -time astronauts 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:50.199 recover their balance after they return from 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.879 space. Yeah, and that interest in the broader 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.079 kind of overarching systems of space medicine 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:58.540 continued for years. Fast forward to 2012, she 00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:01.040 completed a master's degree in space physiology 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:03.620 and health at King's College London. Right. And 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:05.439 for her dissertation, she went right back to 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:07.589 the NASA Johnson Space Center. But this time, 00:06:07.790 --> 00:06:10.389 she's working with the Exploration Medical Capability 00:06:10.389 --> 00:06:13.129 Team. She's looking at in -flight diagnosis and 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:15.750 treatments, reviewing the efficiency of the medical 00:06:15.750 --> 00:06:17.629 systems onboard the International Space Station, 00:06:17.750 --> 00:06:20.089 the ISS. Yeah. Now, wait. Hold on. I have to 00:06:20.089 --> 00:06:22.129 push back here for a second. OK, go for it. I'm 00:06:22.129 --> 00:06:24.750 looking at her trajectory and her ultimate claim 00:06:24.750 --> 00:06:27.829 to fame. The thing she is globally known for 00:06:27.829 --> 00:06:31.699 today is women's health. Right. So why spend 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:34.860 so much time studying inner ear balance and the 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:38.120 efficiency of ISS medical kits? Isn't that a 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:40.959 massive detour from gynecology? If we connect 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:43.160 this to the bigger picture, you'll see it isn't 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.420 a detour at all. It is the absolute bedrock. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.500 Really? Yeah. Think about what space actually 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.399 does to a human being. It strips away gravity, 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.540 and gravity is the single most fundamental constant 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.110 of human existence. Yeah. We just take it completely 00:06:57.110 --> 00:06:59.689 for granted. Every single cell, every drop of 00:06:59.689 --> 00:07:02.490 blood, every sensory organ in your body evolved 00:07:02.490 --> 00:07:04.370 under the strict assumption that an invisible 00:07:04.370 --> 00:07:06.949 force is pulling downward at all times. Right, 00:07:07.009 --> 00:07:08.709 so when you remove that, I mean, the baseline 00:07:08.709 --> 00:07:11.529 rules just stop applying. Everything goes haywire. 00:07:11.930 --> 00:07:14.629 Take the balance study, for example. Your inner 00:07:14.629 --> 00:07:17.769 ear uses these tiny structures in fluid that 00:07:17.769 --> 00:07:20.069 rely entirely on gravity to tell your brain which 00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:23.050 way is up. Oh, wow. So in zero gravity, those 00:07:23.050 --> 00:07:25.829 structures just float randomly. Your brain starts 00:07:25.829 --> 00:07:29.149 receiving absolute garbage data. You cannot begin 00:07:29.149 --> 00:07:31.629 to understand highly specialized, localized, 00:07:31.870 --> 00:07:34.389 health -like reproductive health without first 00:07:34.389 --> 00:07:37.350 understanding how these baseline systems adapt. 00:07:37.550 --> 00:07:39.430 That makes a lot of sense. You also mentioned 00:07:39.430 --> 00:07:42.550 the ISS medical kit efficiency earlier. I imagine 00:07:42.550 --> 00:07:44.930 standard medical procedures on Earth also rely 00:07:44.930 --> 00:07:46.949 heavily on gravity without us even realizing 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:49.509 it. Oh, they absolutely do. Think about just 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:51.870 basic medical triage. On Earth, if someone is 00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:54.250 gleading, the blood drips down. Right. If you 00:07:54.250 --> 00:07:56.029 need to do chest compressions, your body weight 00:07:56.029 --> 00:07:59.269 pushes down. In zero gravity, blood forms these 00:07:59.269 --> 00:08:01.550 floating spheres that can actually be inhaled 00:08:01.550 --> 00:08:03.930 by the crew. Oh my god, that's horrifying. It 00:08:03.930 --> 00:08:06.490 is. And if you push on a patient's chest for 00:08:06.490 --> 00:08:08.560 CPR, You just launch yourself backward across 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.160 the module. Because of physics. Every action 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:14.279 has an equal reaction. Exactly. Tools just float 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:17.459 away if they aren't tethered down. Dr. Jane had 00:08:17.459 --> 00:08:20.959 to master the overarching architecture of space 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.180 medicine, the baseline neurology, the environmental 00:08:24.180 --> 00:08:27.240 triage before she could safely drill down into 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:30.360 the specialized mechanics of gynecology. Okay, 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.080 so she's basically learning how the entire house 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:36.480 operates under extreme stress before she starts, 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.539 you know, inspecting the plumbing. That's a great 00:08:38.539 --> 00:08:40.240 way to put it. And it seems like understanding 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:43.659 those overarching systems on the ISS made a glaring 00:08:43.659 --> 00:08:46.039 gap in the research totally impossible for her. 00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:48.480 to ignore because the astronaut demographic was 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.840 changing and the medical protocol simply hadn't 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:53.139 caught up. No they hadn't and this is where her 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:55.580 career pivots into truly uncharted territory. 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.340 In 2012 she was awarded an NIHR academic clinical 00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:01.659 fellowship in the UK. Right. And the explicit 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:04.039 purpose of this fellowship was to focus purely 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:06.820 on women's health in space. So she officially 00:09:06.820 --> 00:09:10.539 earns the title of space gynecologist. Yes. Which, 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.200 I mean, that has to be one of the most highly 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.200 specific academic titles in existence. It is 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.740 incredibly rare, but the sources highlight just 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:20.700 how desperately the specific expertise is needed. 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:23.360 Because the issues she consults on, they aren't 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:26.220 just abstract biological theories. They are the 00:09:26.220 --> 00:09:29.419 gritty, day -to -day logistical realities of 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:31.779 human survival in a very hostile environment. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:33.539 And here's where it gets really interesting. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:37.049 Because the logistics are just staggering to 00:09:37.049 --> 00:09:39.070 think about. Oh, yeah. Think about planning a 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:42.190 week -long camping trip here on Earth. Just packing 00:09:42.190 --> 00:09:44.470 for that takes effort. You worry about the weather, 00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:46.929 your food supply, how you're going to handle 00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:49.289 the bathroom situations out in the woods. Right. 00:09:49.330 --> 00:09:51.690 It's a headache. Now, try to imagine packing 00:09:51.690 --> 00:09:54.350 for menstruation while living inside a floating 00:09:54.350 --> 00:09:57.289 vacuum -sealed tin can that is hurtling around 00:09:57.289 --> 00:10:01.110 the Earth at 17 ,000 miles per hour. where absolutely 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:03.629 everything floats. And that creates profound 00:10:03.629 --> 00:10:06.269 mechanical challenges for the human body. Because 00:10:06.269 --> 00:10:08.629 on Earth, menstruation relies at least partially 00:10:08.629 --> 00:10:11.629 on gravity to help shed the uterine lining. Right, 00:10:11.789 --> 00:10:14.090 of course. So in a microgravity environment, 00:10:14.289 --> 00:10:16.690 you have to ask these questions that terrestrial 00:10:16.690 --> 00:10:19.769 doctors never even have to consider. Like, does 00:10:19.769 --> 00:10:22.190 the fluid flow out normally, or does the lack 00:10:22.190 --> 00:10:25.190 of gravity cause it to just pool? Oh, wow. Yeah. 00:10:25.190 --> 00:10:27.769 Is there a risk of retrograde menstruation where 00:10:27.769 --> 00:10:30.669 the fluid actually flows backward into the fallopian 00:10:30.669 --> 00:10:33.350 tubes? That sounds incredibly dangerous. Not 00:10:33.350 --> 00:10:35.870 to mention the external hardware. Yeah. Dr. Jane 00:10:35.870 --> 00:10:38.210 actually consults on how female astronauts deal 00:10:38.210 --> 00:10:40.710 with space toilets, right? Because they use air 00:10:40.710 --> 00:10:42.629 suction instead of gravity. Exactly. You have 00:10:42.629 --> 00:10:45.389 to design systems that safely and hygienically 00:10:45.389 --> 00:10:48.809 manage biological fluids when those fluids literally 00:10:48.809 --> 00:10:51.889 want to form floating droplets. Yeah. It is a 00:10:51.889 --> 00:10:54.429 massive engineering and medical crossover. It's 00:10:54.429 --> 00:10:56.710 hugely complex. But beyond the day to day, she 00:10:56.710 --> 00:10:59.169 is also looking at long -term cellular threats, 00:10:59.250 --> 00:11:01.409 right? Sure. I saw a note in the sources about 00:11:01.409 --> 00:11:04.250 deep space radiation. Yes. That is a critical 00:11:04.250 --> 00:11:06.769 piece of her work. She calculates the radiation 00:11:06.769 --> 00:11:09.049 risk to the eggs that astronauts carry in their 00:11:09.049 --> 00:11:11.730 ovaries. And the mechanism behind why this matters 00:11:11.730 --> 00:11:14.840 so much is fascinating. How so? Well, unlike 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.139 other cells in the body that constantly regenerate 00:11:17.139 --> 00:11:20.259 over time, a woman is born with all the eggs 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:23.259 she will ever have. They just sit dormant in 00:11:23.259 --> 00:11:25.679 the ovaries. And space is flooded with cosmic 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:27.799 radiation that our Earth's atmosphere normally 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:30.539 protects us from. Correct. As a spacecraft travels 00:11:30.539 --> 00:11:33.440 through deep space, high -energy radiation particles 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.899 slice right through the hull and they pass straight 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:38.559 through the astronauts' bodies. They just go 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:40.139 right through the metal. Right through. And when 00:11:40.139 --> 00:11:42.539 those particles hit cellular tissue, they can 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:46.250 damage DNA. Now, because eggs are a finite, non 00:11:46.250 --> 00:11:49.370 -regenerating resource, the cumulative DNA damage 00:11:49.370 --> 00:11:52.870 from radiation over a long mission poses a unique 00:11:52.870 --> 00:11:55.850 severe risk to female reproductive health. It's 00:11:55.850 --> 00:11:58.110 just wild to realize that these issues were largely 00:11:58.110 --> 00:12:00.850 sidelined for so long. I know. But the urgency 00:12:00.850 --> 00:12:02.970 to figure this out is really spiking right now, 00:12:03.029 --> 00:12:05.929 because the face of space exploration is actively 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:09.409 changing. Both NASA and the European Space Agency, 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:12.450 the ESA, they are heavily increasing their recruitment 00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:16.450 of female And the sources point out a very specific 00:12:16.450 --> 00:12:18.990 biological timeline intersection that really 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.610 complicates all of this. For female astronauts, 00:12:21.769 --> 00:12:24.470 the average age to have their first baby is between 00:12:24.470 --> 00:12:27.970 38 and 41. Wow, that is such a narrow biologically 00:12:27.970 --> 00:12:30.509 sensitive window. It is. You have these elite 00:12:30.509 --> 00:12:33.090 professionals operating at the absolute peak 00:12:33.090 --> 00:12:35.970 of their careers, deployed into the most physically 00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:39.090 hostile environment known to humanity, exactly 00:12:39.090 --> 00:12:41.389 during the years when reproductive health requires 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:44.759 the most nuanced to careful management, you simply 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:48.059 cannot rely on 1960s medical models to support 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:51.809 them. Which brings us to a major milestone. In 00:12:51.809 --> 00:12:54.370 2020, Dr. Jane worked with a team of experts 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:57.250 for the ESA to create the first ever reproductive 00:12:57.250 --> 00:12:59.809 health research agenda for any space agency. 00:13:00.070 --> 00:13:01.950 And honestly, the fact that it took until 2020 00:13:01.950 --> 00:13:04.429 to establish a formalized research agenda for 00:13:04.429 --> 00:13:06.929 reproductive health in space really underscores 00:13:06.929 --> 00:13:10.029 how overlooked this area was. Seriously. Dr. 00:13:10.110 --> 00:13:11.990 Jane's work is practically forcing the aerospace 00:13:11.990 --> 00:13:14.450 community to evaluate the biological reality 00:13:14.450 --> 00:13:16.710 of half the human population. It is incredible 00:13:16.710 --> 00:13:19.350 that she spearheaded that. But here is the turn 00:13:19.350 --> 00:13:21.639 in the story that I find most compelling. Oh, 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.240 the Earth connection. Yes, solving these highly 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.799 specific problems for just a handful of elite 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.879 astronauts orbiting the planet unexpectedly holds 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.379 the key to solving everyday medical issues for 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:36.139 millions of women walking around right here on 00:13:36.139 --> 00:13:39.350 Earth. This is the bridge between her space -based 00:13:39.350 --> 00:13:42.470 theories and practical terrestrial medicine. 00:13:42.950 --> 00:13:46.009 So in 2019, she won a Wellbeing of Women Clinical 00:13:46.009 --> 00:13:48.789 Research Training Fellowship. And this grant 00:13:48.789 --> 00:13:50.990 allowed her to move to Scotland to work as a 00:13:50.990 --> 00:13:52.889 researcher at the University of Edinburgh. And 00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:55.470 her earth -based research is incredibly specific. 00:13:56.070 --> 00:13:58.490 The sources state she studies the endometrial 00:13:58.490 --> 00:14:01.070 phenotype in women with abnormal uterine bleeding. 00:14:01.230 --> 00:14:05.350 Yes. Now, can we pause and translate that? because 00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:08.029 endometrial phenotype sounds a bit dense. Yeah, 00:14:08.070 --> 00:14:10.049 let's break it down. The endometrium is simply 00:14:10.049 --> 00:14:12.009 the tissue that lines the inside of the uterus. 00:14:12.110 --> 00:14:14.289 It's the lining that thickens and sheds during 00:14:14.289 --> 00:14:16.990 a menstrual cycle. Okay, got it. And a phenotype 00:14:16.990 --> 00:14:19.590 refers to how cells actually behave and express 00:14:19.590 --> 00:14:22.110 themselves based on their environment. So when 00:14:22.110 --> 00:14:24.009 we talk about an endometrial phenotype, we're 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:26.190 basically looking at the observable characteristics 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:28.830 of that tissue. So she is looking at the cellular 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:32.590 behavior of the womb lining. to figure out the 00:14:32.590 --> 00:14:35.330 fundamental mechanisms of why women suffer from 00:14:35.330 --> 00:14:38.289 abnormally heavy periods. Yes, exactly. Heavy 00:14:38.289 --> 00:14:40.309 menstrual bleeding is a debilitating issue for 00:14:40.309 --> 00:14:42.870 millions of women on earth, and the root cellular 00:14:42.870 --> 00:14:46.409 causes are often poorly understood. Dr. Jane 00:14:46.409 --> 00:14:49.210 has this core driving belief that conducting 00:14:49.210 --> 00:14:51.549 research on women's health in space directly 00:14:51.549 --> 00:14:54.129 tangibly benefits our understanding of these 00:14:54.129 --> 00:14:56.330 earthbound conditions. And the medical community 00:14:56.330 --> 00:14:59.070 clearly agrees with her approach. In 2022, she 00:14:59.070 --> 00:15:02.470 won the I .R. Early Career Innovator Prize for 00:15:02.470 --> 00:15:05.169 this exact specific work. Which is fantastic 00:15:05.169 --> 00:15:07.870 recognition. It is. But I have to ask, so what 00:15:07.870 --> 00:15:10.029 does this all mean for you? I'm putting myself 00:15:10.029 --> 00:15:12.049 in the shoes of someone listening to this, and 00:15:12.049 --> 00:15:14.129 I have to question the efficiency of this entire 00:15:14.129 --> 00:15:17.039 model. While sending humans to space, spending 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:19.940 billions of dollars in dealing with literal rocket 00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:22.320 science, really the most practical way to figure 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.379 out why a woman in London or New York has heavy 00:15:25.379 --> 00:15:27.700 periods. I get that. I mean, it sounds totally 00:15:27.700 --> 00:15:29.600 counterintuitive to look at the stars to fix 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:31.960 a problem on the ground. But you have to view 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:34.720 space not just as a destination, but as the ultimate 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:38.799 biological stress test. How so? On Earth, Gravity 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.720 and the normal slow rhythm of our daily environment, 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:45.019 they act as a kind of static noise. And that 00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:48.480 static noise actually masks the subtle microscopic 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.860 weaknesses in our cells. But when you launch 00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:53.659 a human into zero gravity, you remove that static 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:57.620 noise completely. The biology basically panics. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.379 It has to adapt at a staggering rate just to 00:16:00.379 --> 00:16:02.919 survive. So it accelerates everything. Drastically. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:05.360 Physiological changes that might take decades 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:07.620 to observe on where things like severe bone density 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:10.980 loss, cardiovascular shifts, or cellular changes 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:13.259 in reproductive tissue, they happen in a matter 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:16.120 of weeks or months in orbit. Wow. Space is a 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:19.279 hyperspeed laboratory. By studying how the endometrial 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.059 phenotype, how that uniring tissue reacts to 00:16:22.059 --> 00:16:24.559 the extreme accelerated stress of zero gravity 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.340 and radiation, researchers can isolate the exact 00:16:27.340 --> 00:16:29.320 cellular pathways that trigger heavy bleeding. 00:16:29.659 --> 00:16:32.779 Pathways that are completely hidden. by the slow 00:16:32.779 --> 00:16:35.600 gravitational baseline of Earth. Exactly. It's 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.440 kind of like trying to diagnose a subtle flaw 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.519 in a car engine. Like if you just drive the car 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:41.659 20 miles an hour down to the grocery store, the 00:16:41.659 --> 00:16:44.919 engine seems totally fine. The low stress environment 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:48.360 masks the flaw. Right. To actually understand 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:50.879 where the mechanical failure is, you have to 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:53.279 take that car to a test track and push it all 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.950 the way to the red line. The extreme pressure 00:16:55.950 --> 00:16:59.049 is what exposes the weak gasket. That is a perfect 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:01.549 way to conceptualize it. Zero gravity is the 00:17:01.549 --> 00:17:04.569 red line for human biology. It exposes the hidden 00:17:04.569 --> 00:17:07.210 cellular flaws that cause everyday suffering 00:17:07.210 --> 00:17:09.410 down here on Earth. But pushing biology to the 00:17:09.410 --> 00:17:12.529 red line comes with serious risks. I think it 00:17:12.529 --> 00:17:14.950 is really worth noting Dr. Jane's own personal 00:17:14.950 --> 00:17:17.710 stance on experiencing this extreme environment 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:20.329 herself. Yeah, that part is really telling. Because 00:17:20.329 --> 00:17:22.109 the sources mentioned that when asked if she 00:17:22.109 --> 00:17:24.190 would go to space, she said she would welcome 00:17:24.190 --> 00:17:27.210 a short trip. But she explicitly noted that she 00:17:27.210 --> 00:17:29.789 fears the physiological damage caused to those 00:17:29.789 --> 00:17:32.380 who are in space for long periods of time. Which 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:34.900 is a remarkably candid admission from someone 00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:37.759 in her position. Very much so. It really highlights 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:41.660 the dual nature of space exploration. It is simultaneously 00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:44.680 our greatest laboratory for understanding human 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.200 health and one of the greatest threats to it. 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:50.299 It's sobering. I mean, the person who literally 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:55.259 defined the field of space gynecology, who understands 00:17:55.259 --> 00:17:57.920 the biological toll on a cellular level better 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.109 than almost anyone alive, is saying, I'll go 00:18:01.109 --> 00:18:03.289 for a quick visit, but I do not want to stay 00:18:03.289 --> 00:18:05.730 there. Yeah. It really strips away the romanticism 00:18:05.730 --> 00:18:08.349 of space travel and reminds you just how hostile 00:18:08.349 --> 00:18:10.750 that environment actually is. Her hesitation 00:18:10.750 --> 00:18:13.410 speaks volumes. It reinforces why her research 00:18:13.410 --> 00:18:16.130 is so vital. We simply cannot send people into 00:18:16.130 --> 00:18:18.130 that environment without understanding exactly 00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:20.549 how it breaks the body down. It's a fascinating 00:18:20.549 --> 00:18:22.549 paradox. We've covered some incredible ground 00:18:22.549 --> 00:18:24.630 today. We started with a kid in the Birmingham 00:18:24.630 --> 00:18:27.809 area watching Dr. Beverly Crusher on Star Trek, 00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:30.509 just dreaming of a medical career that didn't 00:18:30.509 --> 00:18:33.049 yet exist. And then she went and built it. Exactly. 00:18:33.369 --> 00:18:35.430 We followed her through this brilliant reverse 00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:38.529 engineered education studying extreme environments 00:18:38.529 --> 00:18:41.589 first, understanding the absolute baseline of 00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:44.549 human balance and triage in zero gravity with 00:18:44.549 --> 00:18:47.079 NASA. And from that really broad foundation, 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:50.000 she carved out a completely new discipline. She 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.339 became a space gynecologist. She created the 00:18:52.339 --> 00:18:54.380 first reproductive health guidelines for space 00:18:54.380 --> 00:18:56.920 agencies. And she took all of that cosmic data 00:18:56.920 --> 00:18:59.200 back to the University of Edinburgh to solve 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.539 the grounded, painful reality of heavy periods 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:05.180 for women on Earth. It is a total masterclass 00:19:05.180 --> 00:19:07.779 in multidisciplinary thinking. It proves that 00:19:07.779 --> 00:19:09.720 innovation rarely comes from looking straight 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:11.980 at a problem. Sometimes you literally have to 00:19:11.980 --> 00:19:15.539 look 250 miles straight up to see this. So true. 00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:17.559 But as we wrap up this deep dive, there's one 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:19.500 final detail from the sources that I keep turning 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:22.160 over in my head. We just discussed Dr. Jane's 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:24.799 hesitation, her fear of the long -term physiological 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:27.420 damage caused by space exposure. Right, the cellular 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:29.680 radiation damage, the fluid shifts, the bone 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:32.680 density loss, all of it. Right. It raises a massive 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:35.339 question for the future. We hear tech CEOs and 00:19:35.339 --> 00:19:38.200 space agencies constantly talking about colonizing 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.980 Mars. Well, all the time. The narrative is always 00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:43.759 about humanity becoming a multi -planetary species. 00:19:44.269 --> 00:19:48.109 But if long -term space exposure causes the kind 00:19:48.109 --> 00:19:52.150 of severe, fundamental biological damage to reproductive 00:19:52.150 --> 00:19:55.369 systems that even the resident space gynecologist 00:19:55.369 --> 00:19:59.069 fears, what are the actual undiscussed biological 00:19:59.069 --> 00:20:02.670 realities if humanity attempts to not just survive, 00:20:03.049 --> 00:20:05.930 but actively reproduce and raise generations 00:20:05.930 --> 00:20:09.329 on other worlds? It is the great blind spot in 00:20:09.329 --> 00:20:12.250 the colonization conversation. We focus so heavily 00:20:12.250 --> 00:20:14.349 on the rockets and the habitats. The hardware 00:20:14.349 --> 00:20:17.230 might be ready for Mars, but the biological software 00:20:17.230 --> 00:20:19.430 of the human body, particularly the reproductive 00:20:19.430 --> 00:20:22.309 system, is still strictly tethered to the gravity 00:20:22.309 --> 00:20:24.569 and atmosphere of Earth. It really makes you 00:20:24.569 --> 00:20:26.069 look at our home planet a little differently. 00:20:26.589 --> 00:20:28.569 So the next time you are packing your bags for 00:20:28.569 --> 00:20:30.630 a trip and you toss in your little medical kit 00:20:30.630 --> 00:20:32.950 with the band -aids and the pain relievers, take 00:20:32.950 --> 00:20:35.329 a second to appreciate the invisible force of 00:20:35.329 --> 00:20:37.369 gravity keeping you on the ground. It's doing 00:20:37.369 --> 00:20:40.329 a lot of heavy lifting. Literally. Because as 00:20:40.329 --> 00:20:42.029 we've learned today, the moment you leave it 00:20:42.029 --> 00:20:44.490 behind, the rule book of your own biology has 00:20:44.490 --> 00:20:47.349 to be entirely rewritten. Keep wondering, keep 00:20:47.349 --> 00:20:49.269 questioning, and we'll catch you on the next 00:20:49.269 --> 00:20:49.690 deep dive.