CCTV News: The reporter learned from the recent introduction to the science and application progress of my country's space application system that based on the successful "space fish farming" in last year (2024), this year, zebrafish are expected to "go on the expedition" of China's space station again.
It is understood that there are 6 zebrafishes in the second batch that entered the Chinese space station, and 6 grams of goldfish algae will enter the Chinese space station together. Through zebrafish, researchers will focus on the impact of microgravity on proteins in vertebrate muscles and bones. Zebrafish is a small tropical freshwater fish. Its genome has a similarity of more than 70% to the human genome. It is an important model animal for conducting life sciences, health sciences, and environmental science research. On April 25, 2024, the space aquatic conservation system carried 4 zebrafish and 4 grams of goldfish algae into the China Space Station and installed it in the life ecological experimental cabinet in the Wentian cabin to conduct on-orbit experiments.
This ecosystem has been operating stably for 43 days on the China Space Station. This is the longest time record for the in-orbit operation of space aquatic ecosystems in the international community. It has achieved a breakthrough in cultivating vertebrates in space, analyzed the impact of the spatial environment on the growth and development and behavior of vertebrates, and provided theoretical support for the study of material circulation in spatial confined ecosystems.
Experts said that after analyzing the first batch of samples recovered from space fish farming experiments, it was found that zebrafish not only lived well on the Chinese space station, but also achieved egg laying in orbit, which shows that the space self-circulating aquatic ecosystem established in orbit in my country can become an experimental platform for zebrafish to assist scientists in space health research on astronauts.
It is understood that space microgravity can trigger a variety of pathophysiological phenomena in the human body, such as cardiovascular dysfunction, decreased immune function, bone loss, muscle atrophy, etc. The mechanism of its action has always been one of the important scientific topics in the study of space biological effects. By studying zebrafish in space, it will help humans better and more comprehensively understand the impact of the space environment on genes, cells and life as a whole.
