Universities such as Tsukuba University, Gifu University, and Tokyo Medical and Dental University and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are the only ones in the world to raise small animals while creating an artificial gravity environment at the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" on the International Space Station. It was revealed that the device was developed and the mice were bred individually for a long period of time (35 days).
In recent years, the Moon and Mars have been nominated as destinations for international space exploration, but there are many unknown scientific issues regarding the effects of the space environment (micro / low gravity, radiation, etc.) on the human body. It has been required to utilize "Kibo" as a test bed for manned exploration toward the Moon and Mars.
Therefore, this time, using a turntable that generates an artificial gravity environment, simultaneous long-term individual breeding of mice in each of the micro-gravity environment (μg) and the earth artificial gravity environment (artificial 1g) was carried out, and it was the first time in the world to depend on the difference in gravity environment. An attempt was made to compare and evaluate pure effects.
As a result, in the mice bred in the μg environment, significant deterioration in balance function and bone / muscle mass was observed.This change was not seen in the artificial 1g, and it became clear from the comparison of pure gravity effects alone that "gravity determines the shape of the animal body itself".
Until now, breeding experiments in space have only been comparative analysis between the ground and space, but with the device developed this time, it has become possible for the first time to compare and identify only the differences in the gravitational environment.In space, the biological effects seen in bedridden and elderly people, such as bone loss, muscle atrophy, and vestibular dysfunction, change at an accelerating rate.It is said that it will be verified in the future whether this is caused by the environmental change of microgravity, and it is expected to contribute to international space exploration.
