Zebrafish swim backward in space sent by China

Latest Science & Tech Team TabloidPK May 25, 2024 0 Comments 94 Views

Zebrafish swim backward in space sent by China

Four zebrafish swim backward in space that China launched onboard the Tiangong space station on April 25, 2024, to observe changes in them. This behavioral change in zebrafish came as part of China’s innovative aquatic ecological research experiment onboard the Tiangong space station.

China launched four zebrafish and four grams of goldfish algae with three astronauts in Shenzhou-18 spacecraft into space last month. This research aims to create a self-cycling aquatic ecosystem to observe how zebrafish behave in the microgravity environment of space.

*Chinese Scientists sent four zebrafish into space to observe their behavior compared to Earth*

According to specialists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the zebrafish in the spatial aquatic environment has been doing well for more than three weeks in space orbit. It is the first time researchers are conducting vertebrate studies in space orbit.

Zheng Weibo is a researcher at the CAS’s Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics. According to Zhang, they found changes in the directional behavior of four zebrafish in the microgravity environment of space, including their swim backward and circular movements for the past three weeks.

The Chinese researchers are also examining water and fish egg samples from space. Zebrafish are about 400 km above Earth from space orbit. They aim to analyze the effects of the space environment on the growth, development, and behavior of zebrafish. And also the material cycle of limited ecosystems in space.

*Zebrafish exhibiting backward swimming and circular movements in space for more than three weeks*

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Wang Gaohong is a researcher at the CAS Institute of Hydrobiology. He claims that zebrafish are used as model animals for research on numerous human diseases because of their genetic resemblance to humans.

This self-sustaining aquatic habitat’s successful adaptation in space shows a major development in the field of space vertebrates. It opens the door for further research on the effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity on complex creatures.

Chinese researchers intend to gain significant knowledge on difficulties sustaining life support systems for long-term space trips. And for probable future space colonies by analyzing four space-launched zebrafish.