19 November 2011 | NewScientist | 33

enhancer for healthy people, regulators would require long-term safety studies so they could weigh up the risks and benefits. Pharmaceutical companies are not rushing to carry out such studies, but Sahakian is calling for such work to be done before someone comes to harm.

Some cognitive enhancers, such as Ritalin, are controlled drugs. Modafinil is not, so it is legal to buy it online, though it is illegal to supply it without a prescription. The UK government, through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, told Newsnight that tackling the illegal sale and supply of medicines over the internet is a priority.

It’s not just students who claim to find the drug beneficial. Anders Sandberg of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford talks openly about using cognitive-enhancing drugs. He is about to start a study in Germany to compare the effects of a range of cognitive enhancers, including two hormones – ghrelin, which promotes hunger, and oxytocin, which is associated with empathy – to test their powers at what he calls “moral enhancement”.

“Once we have figured out how morality works as an emotional and mental system there might be ways of improving it,” he told me.

The bottom line is that cognitive-enhancing pills are a reality and people are using them. But how comfortable are we with the knowledge that some of our children’s classmates might be taking such drugs to perform better at school, or that one candidate for a job interview might use modafinil to outshine the others? And who was the real me, the one on modafinil, or the one not? Perhaps we should start thinking these questions through, before a drug offering far more than a few percentage points of enhancement comes our way. n

Susan Watts is the science editor of the BBC TV programme Newsnight

Comment on these stories at newscientist.com/opinion

What helped you get through the 520 days?Romain Charles, flight engineer (bottom right): For me it was mainly writing to my family and my friends that gave me my serene mood.Sukhrob Kamolov, crew physician (top left): The interesting scientific research in medicine and biology, which was my speciality since I’m a doctor. Of course, also the support of my family, and self-discipline.Diego Urbina, researcher (top right): The public relations activities were good. You get feedback from all the kids that want to go to Mars, and they tell you so many nice things, so many things about their own dreams – that gives you the impulse to go on.Alexandr Smoleevskiy, researcher (top middle): Of course, the most effective way to deal with stress was already learned during my prior service in the army. After the experience gained there, one can participate in practically any experiment.

What was the hardest part of the trip?SK: The first few months, adapting to this closed module. You understand that you’ve been cut off, you will see only these people for 520 days. You have to adapt to not seeing the sun, not seeing grass, to having the same wood-panelled walls surrounding you. That was the hard part. I think in space it is easier – there’s a window, you can see the stars.

Cooped up together for 520 days, did you have any conflicts?Alexey Sitev, crew commander (bottom middle): Not serious ones, no. The crew was well chosen. Any arguments were about professional activities, how best to do something. RC: We never had conflicts, but we had some moments where we didn’t agree – sometimes due to our backgrounds and cultural differences. For example, for me, the meal is a moment where I talk with my family, we share our day. I like to do that, it’s important. For some of the other crew members, their background is that during lunch, you eat in silence. We ended up not understanding each other… but we overcame it quite quickly.

One minute with...

The Mars 500 crew

For the first half of the experiment, on the way to Mars, you ate re-heatable food, like airline meals. For the “return” mission you ate powdered, just-add-water food. How did you like these meals?Wang Yue, researcher (bottom left): It was our first topic of conversation – the permanent topic, in fact. Food! I couldn’t eat the food! It’s not noodles, it’s potatoes. Potatoes, potatoes. Fried potatoes, European style. From the beginning, I said I don’t want to eat potatoes. But after maybe 300 days we had to eat the powders mixed with cold water instead and I said: “I want potatoes!”RC: We had some powdered wine for special occasions. And as a Frenchman, I’m sorry to say, it was just not wine.

Will you miss each other?ASi: [Laughing] Not yet!RC: We still have to work together for a month, but I think we’ll keep in touch.Interview by Anne-Marie Corley

After 520 days spent in confinement on a mock Mars mission, Alexey Sitev and his crew explain how they coped

ESA

ProfileThe Mars 500 mission simulated a round trip to the Red Planet without stepping foot off Earth. Almost a year and a half ago, six men entered a windowless isolation module in Moscow, Russia, and then mimicked various stages of a Mars mission. They emerged on 4 November

111119_Op_OneMin_Comment.indd 33 11/11/11 17:06:26