Astronauts’ Children Unlikely to Inherit Cosmic Ray-Induced Genetic Defects

Male astronauts exposed to cosmic rays in space are not likely to pass on possible mutations caused by the rays to their offspring, according to a new study by a collaboration that includes a scientist from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. The results are published in the April 11, 2005, online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.