Humanity’s looming ambition to colonize the Moon and Mars faces a major obstacle: our ability to reproduce beyond Earth. While we’re nowhere near having space babies yet, now may be the time to start understanding the exact risks of trying. An experiment aboard the Chinese space station could help provide some answers.
Porcelain launched embryo-like structures manufactured from living human stem cells to its Tiangong space station for a first-of-its-kind experiment. The artificial embryos flew aboard the Tianzhou-10 cargo ship on May 10 and spent about five days in low-Earth orbit to replicate the initial development phase that comes after fertilization.
Orbital baby making
The experiment, led by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is designed to test the effects of the microgravity environment on early human embryonic development.
Artificial embryos include two types of models that represent different phases of embryonic development. The first set of samples was grown on uterine cells to recreate the critical stage in which an embryo attaches to the uterine wall. The other samples were placed inside a microfluidic chip, which mimics the moment when a single layer of cells reorganizes into different layers that eventually form tissues and organs.
“The human artificial embryo is made of human stem cells as raw materials,” Yu Leqian, project leader of the experiment, said in a statement. statement. “This is not a real human embryo and does not have the ability to develop into an individual. However, it can serve as a model for studying early human development.”
Each embryo was kept in its own chamber within a culture vessel. The embryos were allowed to develop over a period of five days before being frozen. The samples will then be returned to Earth for analysis. Meanwhile, back on Earth, identical samples were also being studied within a laboratory to compare how space embryos fared in the microgravity environment.
“We hope that by comparing the development of space and ground samples, we can identify factors that affect early human embryonic growth in the space environment and address the risks and challenges that humans may face during long-term space sojourn,” Yu said.
human colonies
The period of embryonic development that took place aboard the Chinese space station corresponds approximately to between 14 and 21 days after fertilization. This crucial window is when human organs begin to form, and any abnormalities that occur during that period have an effect on the development of the fetus.
Although no one had tried to have babies in space before, previous research has suggested that A hostile environment could have a negative impact. about human reproduction. Cosmic radiation and microgravity can damage reproductive cells and interfere with embryo development.
To help mitigate those negative effects, scientists need to learn more about the risks of reproducing beyond Earth. It is hoped that the recent experiment will help fill some of those knowledge gaps so that humans are better prepared for the conversations of birds and bees on another planet.
