00:00Life isn't really supposed to occur in space, but that is in stopping humanity from reaching out into the cosmos.
00:09And part of that requires us to better understand mammalian development in space.
00:13And researchers now say they've just hit a milestone and have grown a mouse embryo on the International Space Station.
00:19The researchers say that a trip to Mars will take more than six months, meaning at some time during that transit a human child could be conceived.
00:26Previous studies have found that microgravity isn't actually all that conducive to life, and there were significant negative effects related to weightlessness and embryonic development.
00:35During this most recent study, however, they were able to culture embryos in a microgravity environment, and they developed normally after returning to Earth.
00:43With the researchers writing, quote,
00:45This clearly demonstrated that gravity had no significant effect on the blastocyst formation and initial differentiation of mammalian embryos.
00:52Of course, there are more dangers in space aside from a lack of gravity, with the researchers noting that spacefarers are exposed to far more radiation than on Earth.
01:00This study also did not bring the embryos to term, meaning there are still myriad variables that need observation before a human child could be safely born off-world.
01:10This study also did not work.
01:16This study also
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