Chinese scientists have announced that they have been able to develop mice embryos within a microgravity satellite, the first time mammalian embryos have ever been developed in space.

The satellite was launched on April 6, carrying with it 6,000 embryos. These were placed in a self-sufficient containment unit which CC-TV, China's state news television network, describes as "the size of a microwave oven." The embryos were in very early stages of development, and 600 of those embryos were placed under a high-resolution camera, which would take photos every four hours for four days of their growth. Duan Enkui, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told CC-TV scientists noticed the cells had entered blastocyst, the stage where noticeable cell differentiation occurs, about 72 hours after the satellite's launch. That's the same the timeline embryonic development takes on Earth.

The development is a major victory for China's relatively young space program. Preparation for this round of microgravitational testing has been ongoing for the last decade, especially remarkable given that China's manned space program has only been active since 2003.

The tests are also the first potential sign that humans could someday give birth in space. Space does weird things to the human body: it accelerates the conditions of osteoporosis, weakening the bones. Extended space travel will also impact muscle mass negatively, including cardiovascular activity in the heart. The fact that life is able to start, at least, normally in space is big. Many science fiction stories, including Robert Heinlein's famed , feature so-called generation ships, in which people are born and die on a space ship traveling to a far-off new world. In many of these sci-fi stories, the people eventually start going mad and abandon their journey for the insanity of the cosmos. That future is one step closer today!

Source: CC-TV

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