[ad_1]
The bulky mutant “mighty mice” clung to their muscle during a month-long stay on the International Space Station, and returned to Earth with bodybuilding physiques, scientists reported Monday. The findings show promise for preventing muscle and bone loss in astronauts on extended space travel like missions to Mars, as well as in people on Earth who are confined to bed or in need of wheelchairs.
A research team led by Dr. Se-Jin Lee of the Jackson Laboratory in Connecticut sent 40 young female black mice to the space station in December, launching them aboard a SpaceX rocket.
In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lee said that the 24 untreated regular mice lost considerable muscle and bone mass in weightlessness as expected, up to 18%.
Se-Jin Lee / AP
But the eight genetically modified “mighty mice” that launched with twice as much muscle maintained their bulk. Their muscles appeared to be comparable to similar “mighty mice” that stayed behind at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Additionally, eight normal mice that received “mighty mouse” treatment in space returned to Earth with dramatically larger muscles. Treatment involves blocking a couple of proteins that normally limit muscle mass.
A The SpaceX capsule brought all 40 mice back in good condition, parachuting into the Pacific off the coast of California in January. Some of the ordinary mice were injected with the “mighty mice” drug after they returned and quickly built more muscle than their untreated peers, Lee said.
The scientists completed the experiment just when coronavirus was hitting the united states
“The only positive side of COVID is that we had time to write it very intensively” and submit the results for publication, said Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Dr. Emily Germain-Lee, Lee’s wife who was also involved in the study. Both are affiliated with the University of Connecticut.
Although encouraged by their findings, the couple said much more work needs to be done before testing the drug in people to build muscle and bone, without serious side effects.
“We’re years away. But that’s the way it is when you go from mouse studies to human studies,” Germain-Lee said.
Lee said the experiment pointed to other molecules and signaling pathways worth investigating: “an embarrassment of riches … so many things we’d like to pursue.” His next step: possibly sending more “mighty mice” to the space station for an even longer stay.
Three NASA astronauts cared for the space mice, doing body scans and injections: Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, who performed the first all-female spacewalk last fall, and Andrew Morgan. They are listed as co-authors.
