Can human beings recreate in area? The brief response is that we do not know. The long answer is possibly, but there are substantial barriers to get rid of to make zero-gravity pregnancy safe, and research into the subject is only simply beginning.
Area is a dangerous place no matter who you are. Astronauts in peak physical condition often return house after extended remain in area to discover themselves weak, their muscles atrophied and their eyes damaged. A number of these impacts are reversible, however some are not, like the dosages of solar radiation they get that might lead to cancers later in life. A significant part of experiments on the International Space Station have been designed to advance medical science and mitigate the worst of these problems. There is more to find out, and when it comes to pregnancy, we understand very little.
What we do know is that the genuine risk for human embryo advancement isnt radiation: its gravity. At the earliest stages in the process, when the cells begin to grow and divide, development can happen more rapidly at one end of the embryo than the other, and there is some evidence that gravity plays a function in this asymmetry.
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Soviet researchers tried fertilization tests on fish, however had a hard time to get them to mate– it wasnt till a Space Shuttle flight in 1994 that researchers had success encouraging fish breeding and hatching in space, and even then, only particular types appeared to adjust well to microgravity. Additional research in the 1990s found that 81% of embryonic amphibians born in space established neural tube malformations– but that was minimized to 23 percent when the amphibians were positioned in a centrifuge, producing artificial gravity at 1G.
Thats bad news for the prospect of pregnancy in space. In the long term, if reproduction and pregnancy in space are going to be made safe, advances are needed in one of 2 locations. We can attack the problem from an engineering standpoint, and establish spinning space habitats that mimic 1G with synthetic gravity.
Soviet researchers attempted fertilization tests on fish, however had a hard time to get them to mate– it wasnt till a Space Shuttle flight in 1994 that researchers had success motivating fish mating and hatching in space, and even then, just specific species seemed to adapt well to microgravity. Further research study in the 1990s discovered that 81% of embryonic newts born in space established neural tube malformations– however that was decreased to 23 percent when the amphibians were placed in a centrifuge, producing artificial gravity at 1G.
Astronaut Donald Thomas analyzes an amphibian on the Space Shuttle Columbia during a 1994 mission. Credit: NASA.
Birds and geckos have similarly been studied, but if we really wish to comprehend human development in area, we need to study mammals.
Litters of young rats and mice studied in microgravity use some excellent news and some bad new. Fortunately is that lots of perfectly healthy rats and mice have actually endured their spaceflights, and later adapted to life on Earth without problem. Feared flaws– modifications that could last generations– did not materialize. The problem is that some couple of litters did show ill results, but the jury is still out on whether the cause was microgravity, or rather poor maternal care, as the mom acted differently in microgravity and might not bond with offspring as they would in the world. This absence of adult care might represent the defects as quickly as the lack of gravity. More research is needed.
Human development depends to some degree on embryonic stem cells: versatile cells that can become any type of cell the body requires. There is some evidence that this procedure may be impeded in space. Thats bad news for the prospect of pregnancy in space. On this front too, however, its not all bad news. Stem cells from adult tissues– frequently used in treatments for degenerative diseases– actually seem to grow quicker in microgravity, possibly making it possible for better schedule of these treatments to those who require them.
Proposed Nautilus-X International space station centrifuge demo principle for artificial gravity, 2011. Credit: Mark Holderman, NASA Technology Applications Assessment Team.
In the long term, if reproduction and pregnancy in area are going to be made safe, advances are required in one of two areas. We can assault the problem from an engineering viewpoint, and develop spinning area habitats that simulate 1G with artificial gravity. Or, from a medical standpoint, we can discover ways to assist embryo advancement along at the cellular level, possibly through drug treatment.
In the meantime, Earths gravity well (and maybe other gravity wells, like Mars), are the best sanctuaries for pregnancy and birth. Leaving the proverbial cradle is not going to be an unimportant matter. In this instance, Mother Earth is an apt personification of our world, as it is here alone that our reproductive systems have progressed to work, and taking our biology beyond it is going to require imaginative adjustment, both technological and medical, to have a hope of success.
Learn More:
Joanna Bridger and Emmanouil Karteris, “Pregnancy in area: studying stem cells in absolutely no gravity might figure out whether its safe.” The Conversation. 2022.
Alexandra Proshchina et al. “Reproduction and the Early Development of Vertebrates in Space: Problems, Results, Opportunities.” Life (Basel). 2021.
Included Image Credit: Steve Jurvetson, cropped, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
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