ISS crew dissects last of the space rodents

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ISS crew dissects last of the space rodents

Posted by sciencetech-blog on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 Label:

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Following a month floating in space, the last of a group of 'super moustronauts' has been dissected.

Astronauts cut open 10 out of 20 mice to send tissue samples back on the SpaceX Dragon capsule that returned to Earth on Saturday.

The rest of the mice were dissected on Monday and are due to be returned to Earth on December 9 as part of Nasa's tissue research.

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A group of 'super moustronauts' was last month launched into space with remarkable abilities. These mice lacked a gene that normal mice have, called Muscle Ring Finger 1 (MuRF-1), which causes muscles to deteriorate. They have now been dissected and tissue samples sent back to Earth

This group of mice included some that lacked a gene that normal mice have, called Muscle Ring Finger 1 (MuRF-1), which causes muscles to deteriorate.

Scientists claim that by analysing the super mice in microgravity, they could create drugs for use by humans to prevent muscle loss on Earth.

These 'super mice' were the first mammals, excluding humans, to spend a month in space. The typical stay for mice for previous missions has been around two weeks.

MuRF-1 is responsible for marking proteins for destruction in both human and mouse muscles.

Mice sent to live on ISS as scientists study secrets of aging

Nasa created special homes for the mice to live in on the space station, which include systems to stop their food and water from floating around

It also plays a key role in accelerated muscle loss through ageing and other chronic diseases.

THE ANIMAL SPACE RACE

Six national space programs have so far flown animals into space: the Soviet Union, the United States, France, China, Japan and Iran.

They were used as surrogates to test the suitability of the space environment for human habitation.

Fruit flies were the first animals to be sent into orbit when they were put on board a U.S.-launched V-2 rocket on February 20, 1947.

Two years later, Albert II, a Rhesus Monkey, became the first monkey to go into space. In November 1957 Russia sent Laika the dog into orbit aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft.

Then, on January 31, 1961, Ham became the first chimpanzee launched into outer space as part of the Nasa space programme.

For their mission, Nasa created special homes for the mice to live in on the space station, which included systems to stop their food and water from floating around.

'By flying a mouse, whose typical lifespan is much shorter than humans', you can follow the course of bone and muscle loss over a much greater percentage of the mouse lifespan than you can in humans,' Michael Roberts, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space's senior research manager, told Francie Diep at Popular Science.

This is of particular interest to space agencies who are racing to get the first humans on Mars. Any astronaut undertaking the journey will need to spend long stretches in space.

However, microgravity in space means that astronauts no longer need to use certain muscles, causing them to slowly waste away.

'Muscles are the storage space for amino acids, the only reservoir for them,' said Sam Cadena, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research program manager. 'If you lose muscle, you lose health.'

The mice were the first mammals, excluding humans, to spend a month in space. The typical stay for mice in earlier experiments has been around two weeks. Pictured are researchers preparing the mice for launch

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