Direct RNA sequencing of astronaut blood reveals spaceflight-associated m6A increases and hematopoietic transcriptional responses

The advent of civilian spaceflight challenges scientists to precisely describe the effects of spaceflight on human physiology, particularly at the molecular and cellular level. Newer, nanopore-based sequencing technologies can quantitatively map changes in chemical structure and expression at single molecule resolution across entire isoforms. We perform long-read, direct RNA nanopore sequencing, as well as Ultima high-coverage RNA-sequencing, of whole blood sampled longitudinally from four SpaceX Inspiration4 astronauts at seven timepoints, spanning pre-flight, day of return, and post-flight recovery. We report key genetic pathways, including changes in erythrocyte regulation, stress induction, and immune changes affected by spaceflight. We also present the first m