Doomsday Vault In Space: Baby Mice Born On Earth With Sperm Stored On ISS

[Celebrity]

How Was The Study Conducted?
The study's purpose was to ascertain whether mammalian reproduction was possible on space. University of Yamanashi's Teruhiko Wakayama led the study.
To validate their assertions, in 2013, the researchers sent freeze-dried sperm of 12 mice to the ISS. The sperm samples were placed inside a freezer at a temperature of -95 degrees Centigrade. The sperm remained inside this freezer for 288 days. The researchers also stored the sperm from the same mice on Earth under the same temperature for 288 days.

Researchers have successfully preserved the sperm of mice which was freeze dried and sent into space in 2013. We now know this because a new generation of infant mice has been sired.

The baby mice born from the space sperm were healthy and fertile. The researchers did not find any noticeable genetic disparities between the control group mice babies and the space pups. The experiment suggests that the damage to the DNA got repaired post fertilization. Moreover, the researchers opine that there was "no ultimate effect" on the baby mice.

Theoretically, the same is possible with human gametes. Thus, future space travel may now involve projections beyond the time or space that can be traveled by a single generation. We can aim to set foot on extraterrestrial spaces, with the intent of either reproducing in or around there. I doubt we will be reproducing in zero-G anytime soon, but I hypothesize that a uterus functions just fine in zero-G, so it could be possible much later.

Doomsday Vault In Space: Baby Mice Born On Earth With Sperm Stored On ISS : SCIENCE : Tech Times