Sperm get lost in space, Australian research into microgravity impacts suggests | Space

A new study has found that sperm in space will likely become disoriented and lost trying to find their way to an egg.

Sperm do somersaults like an untethered astronaut when exposed to microgravity in experiments, according to University of Adelaide researchers.

Researcher Dr. “It causes them to spin around, go upside down… they don’t really know which side is up or down,” Nicole McPherson said.

part of australia NASA’s planned Artemis mission While we plan to go to the Moon and Mars, private companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, plan to build human habitats on Mars. As a result, there is growing interest in how humans can breed and raise animals in extraterrestrial habitats.

Adelaide researchers used a machine to mimic microgravity; This was the same kind of free-fall, or weightlessness, experience that astronauts experience with the International Space Station. The clinostat “causes the cells not to really understand or know which direction they’re going,” McPherson said.

“With recent advances in space travel and international interest in deep space exploration, Mars settlement, and lunar mining, investigating the impact of microgravity on early fertilization events is critical not only for creating viable food sources but also for sustaining human settlement in space,” an article published in the journal states. Communication Biology.

Microgravity research also benefits earthly reproductive science, McPherson said.

Researchers from the university’s Robinson Research Institute used sperm samples from humans, mice and pigs.

They placed them in a 3D clinostat machine that rotated around to counteract the influence of gravity, and then in a maze that simulated the female reproductive tract; However, in the case of human sperm, an egg was not placed at the end of it for ethical reasons.

They found that sperm exposed to microgravity had difficulty finding their way through the maze.

Compared to the control group, there was an approximately 40% reduction in the number of human sperm exposed to microgravity.

Microgravity also affected the development of pig and mouse embryos.

Senior author McPherson said they showed for the first time that gravity is an important factor in sperm’s ability to navigate, and although it has a negative effect, healthy embryos can still form.

“This gives us hope that one day reproduction in space may be possible,” he said.

“We’re interested in understanding not just the effects of zero gravity, but also changing gravitational forces, things we might see on the Moon or Mars, because we know there’s a long-term plan for humans to settle there.

“While it may seem a bit like science fiction… we are actually gaining fundamental knowledge about how sperm navigates and passes through the female reproductive system.”

The researchers collaborated with the university’s Andy Thomas Center for Space Resources.

“As we move towards becoming a space-faring or multi-planetary species, it is critical to understand how microgravity affects the early stages of reproduction,” said associate professor John Culton, director of the centre.

Adding progesterone helped overcome sperm disorientation; Researchers think this is because eggs also release progesterone, which can help guide sperm.

The radiation that bombards astronauts as they leave Earth’s protective atmosphere also affects sperm, McPherson said.

Studying reproduction in space has a long history.

The University of Adelaide article points to a 1987 study on Cosmos 1887 that found “mice exposed to space reduced testicular mass” and experiments on mouse embryos aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1998.

In 2018, NASA sent human sperm to the ISS with the Micro-11 mission to study the effects of weightlessness. The US space agency also maintains an ongoing developmental, reproductive and evolutionary biology program.

In 2024, the New York Times reported that Musk volunteered his sperm to help establish a colony on Mars, but Musk denied this claim.

In February, scientists called for more research on reproductive health in space, saying international cooperation was “urgently needed” to close knowledge gaps and establish ethical guidelines about the effects of microgravity and radiation.