1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel bomb here. When a SpaceX supply mission recently 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: visited the International Space Station, it's five thousand, eight hundred pounds. 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: That's two thousand sixty kg of cargo. Included equipment for 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: studying thunder storms from the vantage point of space and 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: growing vegetables in orbit, the sort of stuff you'd expect 7 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: astronauts to need for their research. But tucked in with 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: those items was something more unusual. Containers with samples of 9 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,919 Speaker 1: frozen sperm from twelve anonymous human donors obtained from a 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: California sperm bank, along with six samples of sperm from 11 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: breeding bowls. Those samples will be used in a planned 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,840 Speaker 1: experiment micro eleven Astronauts will fall the sperm and add 13 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: chemicals that trigger activation of movement and preparation for fusing 14 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: with an egg. Then they'll put the sperm under a 15 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: microscope so they can capture video footage of the sperm swimming. 16 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: In addition, they'll preform chemical tests. Meanwhile, back on Earth, 17 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: other researchers will be performing these same tests on identical 18 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: samples of spermphore comparison. The experiment is designed to study 19 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: sperm motility, that is, the ability to move and swim 20 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: in microgravity conditions, and how successful they are in triggering 21 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: the physiological changes known as capacitation, which enables them to 22 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: penetrate and fertilize eggs. That information could help to answer 23 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: the question of whether humans would be capable of reproducing 24 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: if they settle in future colonies on the Moon or Mars, 25 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: or if they venture on even longer journeys into the cosmos. 26 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: We spoke with Joe tash And, emeritus professor in the 27 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of 28 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: Kansas Medical Center. He said, if you don't have healthy sperm, 29 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: you've got real risk to multigenerational survival in space. Dash 30 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: was the lead scientist in developing the experiment and continues 31 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: to be involved as a consultant. NASA has been conducting 32 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: research on reproductive and developmental space biology since the nineteen nineties, 33 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: According to an email from researchers at NASA's AIMS Research 34 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: Center in California Silicon Valley who are involved in the 35 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: micro eleven research. In one study published in a March 36 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For example, 37 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,359 Speaker 1: female frogs aboard a space shuttle were induced to ovulate 38 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: so their eggs could be fertilized. The study demonstrated that 39 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: gravity induced rotation of the zygote, that's the cell formed 40 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: by the fusing of a sperm and an egg, wasn't 41 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: necessary to develop a free swimming tadpole with a normal body. 42 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: Micro eleven marks the first time that human sperm have 43 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: been launched into space, that is, aside from the ones 44 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: inside male astronauts bodies, though there have been previous research 45 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: efforts involving animal sperm. Back in the nineteen eighties, German 46 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: researchers launched full seamen into space on a suborbital rocket 47 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: that briefly subjected them to a minute and a half 48 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: of weightlessness, which was recorded on video. Tash says then 49 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: in Tash and colleagues sent samples of sea urchin sperm 50 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: on two space Shuttle missions. In those two experiments, it 51 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: wasn't possible to shoot video under a microscope, so instead 52 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: they looked at signal transduction, the molecular mechanism within the 53 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: sperm cell that tells it when to start wiggling its tail. 54 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: The results of the German study and Tash's research both 55 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: found that sperm actually swam faster in microgravity than they 56 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: do back on Earth. But in one of Tasha's experiments, 57 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: he detected what maybe a big hindrance to procreating in space. 58 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,679 Speaker 1: When sea urchin sperm were exposed to chemical compounds called 59 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: peptides that would be released by eggs, the signaling that 60 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: triggers capacitation, an essential part of reproduction, occurred much more slowly. 61 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: The micro eleven experiment will gather data on the effects 62 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: of microgravity on swimming and capacitation in separate trials. According 63 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: to Tash, but microgravity isn't the only factor that could 64 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: influence reproduction in space. Outside of the Van Allen Belts 65 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: that shield Earth from high energy particles from space radiation, 66 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: exposure could create serious problems. A study published in a 67 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: May seventeen issue of Reproduction found that exposure to charged 68 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: particles of the sort found in space damaged the ovaries 69 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: of female mice. We spoke via email with the studies 70 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: corresponding author, Eureka Luteraier, a professor of medicine, developmental and 71 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: cell biology, and public health at the University of California, Irvine. 72 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,799 Speaker 1: She said, our research found the finite ovarian follical reserve 73 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: is depleted by exposure to charged oxygen or iron particles, 74 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: which are components of galactic cosmic rays. This damage is 75 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: irreversible and will result in early onset of a variant 76 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: failure or premature menopause. Additionally, Luteraire said that human and 77 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: animal studies provide evidence that exposure to gamma radiation and 78 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: charged iron particles decreases sperm motility. But even if it's 79 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: possible to conceive in space, pregnancy and childbirth could be problematic. 80 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: Chris Lenhart, a senior faculty member at the Baylor College 81 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: of Medicine Center for Space Medicine, says in an email 82 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: that it's not known how well an embryo would develop 83 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: in the environment of space, or whether natural birth would 84 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: be possible. Today's episode was written by Patrick Jake Tiger 85 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clay. If you enjoy our show 86 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: and also not being Naked, check out our online shop 87 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 1: at t public dot com slash brain Stuff. We've also 88 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: got a bunch of back to school stuff like laptop cases, 89 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: and of course for lots more on this and other 90 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: exploratory topics. Check out our home planet, how stuff works 91 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: dot com.