A new scientific study revealed the amazing results of a scientific experiment conducted between space, specifically at the International Space Station, and between planet Earth, which resulted in “small space”, according to the description of the sources.
Japanese researchers confirmed that the sperm of mice were exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation, during their stay frozen for 6 years on the International Space Station, which produced a group of young called “Space Juniors”.
According to the study published last Friday in the journal “Science Advance”, the newborns are in good health and have not shown any consequences until today.
The sperm was stored on the International Space Station by freeze-drying, and once returned to Earth and rehydrated, it resulted in the birth of 168 new baby Hulk mice, which took their name from the famous movie name (Hulks), and are free of any genetic defects.
Biologist and lead author of the study, Teruhiko Wakayama, told AFP that there was no significant difference between mice fertilized with alien sperm and sperm that remained on Earth.
'Space pups' born from freeze-dried mouse sperm stored on space station https://t.co/sA3BUEC6Q2 pic.twitter.com/KJicudiX6r
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) June 11, 2021
And the scientist continued, stressing: “All the puppies have a normal appearance, and when the researchers examined their genes, no abnormalities were found.”
In 2013, Wakayama and fellow researchers at Japan’s Yamanashi University launched three boxes each containing 48 ampoules of freeze-dried sperm to the International Space Station for a long-term study.
The researchers wanted to study the effect of long-term exposure to space radiation, which would destroy DNA in reproductive cells or transmit mutations to the offspring.
Batches of sperm were returned to Earth for fertilization after the first nine months, then the process was repeated two years later, and finally six years later, producing hundreds of births.
Freeze-dried sperm were selected for the experiment to conduct the experiment because they can be preserved at room temperature, rather than the need for a refrigerator, according to the scientific website “Space” specialized in space news.
The ampoules were very small and light, about the size of a small pencil, which reduced the costs of delivering them into space.
“In the future, when the time comes to migrate to other planets, we will need to conserve the diversity of genetic resources, not only for humans but also for domestic animals,” Wakayama and colleagues wrote in their paper.