Researchers say that the little organisms could be very helpful

Nov 30, 2011 12:48 GMT  ·  By

A study conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and focusing on a species of very tiny worms, may provide mission planners with the extra knowledge they need to develop missions meant to colonize Mars.

According to the conclusions of the research, it would seem that the microscopic roundworm species called Caenorhabditis elegans can provide us with critical insight into how organisms adapt to the rigors of long-term spaceflight, as well as settling other planets.

Undoubtedly, the future of our species lies amongst the stars, but colonizing the galaxy requires that we travel for prolonged periods of time, months to decades even. During this interval, astronauts will have to adapt to microgravity without losing their health or minds.

C. elegans may help them to that, experts say. The tiny organisms were encapsulated in an experiment that was kept on the ISS for about three months. During this time, 12 generations of the worms were studied in great detail, as researchers sought to observe how the creatures adapted to microgravity.

Researchers were surprised to learn that the organisms could adapt themselves to their new environment very quick. “We have been able to show that worms can grow and reproduce in space for long enough to reach another planet, and that we can remotely monitor their health,” says Nathaniel Szewczyk.

The expert, who is based at the University of Nottingham, in the United Kingdom, is also the lead author of a new paper describing the findings, which is published in the November 30 issue of the scientific journal Interface.

“As a result, C. elegans is a cost-effective option for discovering and studying the biological effects of deep space missions. Ultimately, we are now in a position to be able to remotely grow and study an animal on another planet,” he adds.

Between December 2006 and February 2007, the research team had access to data concerning the ISS experiment. The reason why C. elegans was selected over other species is that it has 20,000 protein-coding genes, nearly the same number as the 23,000 such genes found in humans.

By studying how the creatures reacted to microgravity, experts hope to be able to understand the prospective challenges humans will be subjected during long-term stays in space as well. At this point, it is known that 6-month stays on the ISS have many negative side-effects for astronauts.

“Worms allow us to detect changes in growth, development, reproduction and behavior in response to environmental conditions such as toxins or in response to deep space missions,” Szewczyk believes.

“Given the high failure rate of Mars missions, use of worms allows us to safely and relatively cheaply test spacecraft systems prior to manned missions,” he concludes, quoted by Space.