They hope to see how lack of gravity can affect human reproduction
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send human sperm into space in the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The Micro-11 mission will arrive at the International Space Station (ISS), and they hope to see how the lack of gravity can affect human reproduction
"Pre-fusion steps occur more slowly or do not even occur, delays or problems at this stage could prevent fertilization from happening in space," explained NASA officials.
For this experiment the team of astronauts will thaw the sperm of sent humans and add a chemical mixture to activate the movement and prepare the fusion with the ovum
The basic concepts of how human reproduction works are learned in school, but perhaps they do not perform in the same way outside of this planet, where for good or bad things fall to the ground and you do not float at the first push. Well, scientists want to know how the whole thing would get underway in space, how sperm and eggs can come together when there's no gravity. To this end, this April a SpaceX rocket will launch a mission called Micro-11 to the International Space Station (ISS), whose objective is to verify, for the first time, whether human sperm - and by comparison, that of a bull - "It wiggles" in the same way about 400 km above our heads.
The experiment, carried out by the Ames Research Center of NASA in Silicon Valley, California, aims to deepen the knowledge of the biology of reproduction in space, of which little is known. In mammals, including humans, fertilization occurs when a sperm goes to an egg and fuses with it. We do not reveal anything new. But before this can happen, the sperm cell must be activated to start moving. Then, to be prepared for the union with the ovum, the sperm needs to move faster, and its cell membrane must become more fluid.
Previous experiments with sperm from sea urchins and bulls suggest that movement activation occurs more rapidly in microgravity, whereas pre-fertilization steps occur more slowly, or do not occur at all. Delays or problems at this stage could prevent fertilization from occurring in space. And that, if our civilization ever has to leave this world to establish itself in others, can be a big problem.
The team of astronauts will unfreeze the samples and add chemical mixtures that activate the movement of the space sperm and the preparation for the fusion with the ovule. The researchers will use a video to evaluate how they move. Finally, the samples will be mixed with preservatives and returned to Earth, where they will be analyzed to see if the necessary steps were taken for fertilization and if the space samples differ from the samples of activated sperm on Earth.
Risk of infertility
Scientists still do not know how a long-lived space flight will affect human reproductive health and whether infertility can be a risk to future astronauts. The very strong radiation - in the ISS they support one hundred times the one of our planet - could seriously affect the germinal cells, preventing the development of the embryos or causing serious defects. As hope, the achievement unveiled a year ago, when a team of Japanese researchers showed the world completely healthy mouse pups born from sperm preserved for nine months on the orbital platform.
These experiments can be the first step in understanding the potential viability of reproduction under conditions of reduced gravity. On the one hand, they are useful for basic research, since the unique microgravity environment can reveal processes and connections that are not visible in the normal 1g environment on Earth. But, above all, perhaps one day allow humanity to face long missions of space exploration. As explained by those responsible for the project, a successful base on the Moon or Mars may require colonies of animals and plants that are self-perpetuating and, ourselves, we may have to do so in the future to guarantee our survival in the Universe. But for now, and without knowing the implications, sex in orbit does not seem like a good idea.
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins works in an installation inside the Destiny laboratory of the station where the Micro-11 experiment will be carried out. Provides a sealed environment for scientific and technological experiments-NASA