WEBVTT - Why Did NASA Send Sperm Into Orbit?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here. When a SpaceX supply mission recently

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<v Speaker 1>visited the International Space Station, it's five thousand, eight hundred pounds.

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<v Speaker 1>That's two thousand sixty kg of cargo. Included equipment for

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<v Speaker 1>studying thunder storms from the vantage point of space and

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<v Speaker 1>growing vegetables in orbit, the sort of stuff you'd expect

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<v Speaker 1>astronauts to need for their research. But tucked in with

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<v Speaker 1>those items was something more unusual. Containers with samples of

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<v Speaker 1>frozen sperm from twelve anonymous human donors obtained from a

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<v Speaker 1>California sperm bank, along with six samples of sperm from

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<v Speaker 1>breeding bowls. Those samples will be used in a planned

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<v Speaker 1>experiment micro eleven Astronauts will fall the sperm and add

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<v Speaker 1>chemicals that trigger activation of movement and preparation for fusing

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<v Speaker 1>with an egg. Then they'll put the sperm under a

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<v Speaker 1>microscope so they can capture video footage of the sperm swimming.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition, they'll preform chemical tests. Meanwhile, back on Earth,

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<v Speaker 1>other researchers will be performing these same tests on identical

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<v Speaker 1>samples of spermphore comparison. The experiment is designed to study

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<v Speaker 1>sperm motility, that is, the ability to move and swim

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<v Speaker 1>in microgravity conditions, and how successful they are in triggering

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<v Speaker 1>the physiological changes known as capacitation, which enables them to

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<v Speaker 1>penetrate and fertilize eggs. That information could help to answer

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<v Speaker 1>the question of whether humans would be capable of reproducing

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<v Speaker 1>if they settle in future colonies on the Moon or Mars,

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<v Speaker 1>or if they venture on even longer journeys into the cosmos.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke with Joe tash And, emeritus professor in the

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of

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<v Speaker 1>Kansas Medical Center. He said, if you don't have healthy sperm,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got real risk to multigenerational survival in space. Dash

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<v Speaker 1>was the lead scientist in developing the experiment and continues

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<v Speaker 1>to be involved as a consultant. NASA has been conducting

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<v Speaker 1>research on reproductive and developmental space biology since the nineteen nineties,

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<v Speaker 1>According to an email from researchers at NASA's AIMS Research

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<v Speaker 1>Center in California Silicon Valley who are involved in the

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<v Speaker 1>micro eleven research. In one study published in a March

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<v Speaker 1>issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>female frogs aboard a space shuttle were induced to ovulate

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<v Speaker 1>so their eggs could be fertilized. The study demonstrated that

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<v Speaker 1>gravity induced rotation of the zygote, that's the cell formed

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<v Speaker 1>by the fusing of a sperm and an egg, wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>necessary to develop a free swimming tadpole with a normal body.

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<v Speaker 1>Micro eleven marks the first time that human sperm have

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<v Speaker 1>been launched into space, that is, aside from the ones

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<v Speaker 1>inside male astronauts bodies, though there have been previous research

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<v Speaker 1>efforts involving animal sperm. Back in the nineteen eighties, German

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<v Speaker 1>researchers launched full seamen into space on a suborbital rocket

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<v Speaker 1>that briefly subjected them to a minute and a half

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<v Speaker 1>of weightlessness, which was recorded on video. Tash says then

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<v Speaker 1>in Tash and colleagues sent samples of sea urchin sperm

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<v Speaker 1>on two space Shuttle missions. In those two experiments, it

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't possible to shoot video under a microscope, so instead

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<v Speaker 1>they looked at signal transduction, the molecular mechanism within the

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<v Speaker 1>sperm cell that tells it when to start wiggling its tail.

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<v Speaker 1>The results of the German study and Tash's research both

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<v Speaker 1>found that sperm actually swam faster in microgravity than they

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<v Speaker 1>do back on Earth. But in one of Tasha's experiments,

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<v Speaker 1>he detected what maybe a big hindrance to procreating in space.

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<v Speaker 1>When sea urchin sperm were exposed to chemical compounds called

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<v Speaker 1>peptides that would be released by eggs, the signaling that

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<v Speaker 1>triggers capacitation, an essential part of reproduction, occurred much more slowly.

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<v Speaker 1>The micro eleven experiment will gather data on the effects

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<v Speaker 1>of microgravity on swimming and capacitation in separate trials. According

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<v Speaker 1>to Tash, but microgravity isn't the only factor that could

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<v Speaker 1>influence reproduction in space. Outside of the Van Allen Belts

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<v Speaker 1>that shield Earth from high energy particles from space radiation,

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<v Speaker 1>exposure could create serious problems. A study published in a

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<v Speaker 1>May seventeen issue of Reproduction found that exposure to charged

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<v Speaker 1>particles of the sort found in space damaged the ovaries

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<v Speaker 1>of female mice. We spoke via email with the studies

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<v Speaker 1>corresponding author, Eureka Luteraier, a professor of medicine, developmental and

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<v Speaker 1>cell biology, and public health at the University of California, Irvine.

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<v Speaker 1>She said, our research found the finite ovarian follical reserve

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<v Speaker 1>is depleted by exposure to charged oxygen or iron particles,

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<v Speaker 1>which are components of galactic cosmic rays. This damage is

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<v Speaker 1>irreversible and will result in early onset of a variant

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<v Speaker 1>failure or premature menopause. Additionally, Luteraire said that human and

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<v Speaker 1>animal studies provide evidence that exposure to gamma radiation and

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<v Speaker 1>charged iron particles decreases sperm motility. But even if it's

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<v Speaker 1>possible to conceive in space, pregnancy and childbirth could be problematic.

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<v Speaker 1>Chris Lenhart, a senior faculty member at the Baylor College

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<v Speaker 1>of Medicine Center for Space Medicine, says in an email

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<v Speaker 1>that it's not known how well an embryo would develop

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<v Speaker 1>in the environment of space, or whether natural birth would

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<v Speaker 1>be possible. Today's episode was written by Patrick Jake Tiger

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clay. If you enjoy our show

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