DNA will be extracted from tissues of a variety of vertebrate organisms including man, chicken, and fish. The samples are loaded into sterile quartz cuvettes and sealed. Identical control samples will be prepared, but will not be flown in space. Of the samples flown in space, some will receive shielding with lead foil, and others will be unshielded. The DNA will be assayed by means of the strand-break analysis to measures the average length of the DNA in each sample.
Radiation can cause nucleotide substitutions.
The process involves the initial production of single or double strand breaks, either as a result of the direct interaction of the DNA with the particle, or by interaction with radicals. Because the naked DNA in the vials is in a cell free environment, there is no opportunity for repair to take place. In order to detect another type of mutation, seeds of the mustard plant Arabodopsis will be flown, then grown on earth to look for the effects of chromosome damage in somatic cells by means of flow cytometry. Germination and viability will also be compared to a control population.