China launches 'human artificial embryos' into space

[Grim Reaper 6]

""China's Tianzhou-10 mission just delivered embryo-like structures made from living stem cells to the Tiangong space station. Experiments could shed light on how radiation and microgravity affect human reproduction.""

https://www.livescience.com/space/space-...-off-world

[quintessentone]

They are using the word 'artificial' in a strange way IMO.

"The artificial embryos are made from collections of stem cells that can divide and multiply like a normal embryo but are unable to properly develop into a fetus or baby, allowing researchers to carry out their work with fewer ethical concerns.

"This is not a real human embryo and does not have the ability to develop into an individual," Leqian Yu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' (CAS) Institute of Zoology who is leading the experiment, said May 14 in a CAS statement. "However, it can serve as a model for studying early human development."

Two types of artificial embryos, representing different phases of embryonic development between 14 and 21 days after fertilization, were used in the experiment. The first is a peri-implantation model, which mimics the critical phase where an embryo attaches itself to the uterine wall. The second is a peri-gastrulation model, which replicates the point in early development when a single layer of cells reorganizes into distinct layers that will eventually form different tissues and organs."

https://www.livescience.com/space/space-...-off-world

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Interesting, I suppose, if we are just looking at simple (or not so simple?) stem cell division.

[Grim Reaper 6]

They are using the word 'artificial' in a strange way IMO.

"The artificial embryos are made from collections of stem cells that can divide and multiply like a normal embryo but are unable to properly develop into a fetus or baby, allowing researchers to carry out their work with fewer ethical concerns.

"This is not a real human embryo and does not have the ability to develop into an individual," Leqian Yu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' (CAS) Institute of Zoology who is leading the experiment, said May 14 in a CAS statement. "However, it can serve as a model for studying early human development."

Two types of artificial embryos, representing different phases of embryonic development between 14 and 21 days after fertilization, were used in the experiment. The first is a peri-implantation model, which mimics the critical phase where an embryo attaches itself to the uterine wall. The second is a peri-gastrulation model, which replicates the point in early development when a single layer of cells reorganizes into distinct layers that will eventually form different tissues and organs."

https://www.livescience.com/space/space-...-off-world

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Interesting, I suppose, if we are just looking at simple (or not so simple?) stem cell division.

Thank you, for your post and additional information I appreciate it very much.

[andy06shake]

""China's Tianzhou-10 mission just delivered embryo-like structures made from living stem cells to the Tiangong space station. Experiments could shed light on how radiation and microgravity affect human reproduction.""

https://www.livescience.com/space/space-...-off-world

Chances are if we ever manage to devise a means of travelling between star systems.

We will send frozen embryos and grow people at the destination point as opposed to sending actual astronauts.

Makes sense to find out how radiation and microgravity affect growth.

[Grim Reaper 6]

Chances are if we ever manage to devise a means of travelling between star systems.

 We will send frozen embryos and grow people at the destination point as opposed to sending actual astronauts.

Makes sense to find out how radiation and microgravity affect growth.

That is certainly a distinct possibility, so like you said someday it may be very important to learn how space will effect embryos.

Thanks for your post.

[quintessentone]

Thank you, for your post and additional information I appreciate it very much.

No, thank you for posting such an interesting thread, which is right up my interest alley.

[quintessentone]

Chances are if we ever manage to devise a means of travelling between star systems.

We will send frozen embryos and grow people at the destination point as opposed to sending actual astronauts.

Makes sense to find out how radiation and microgravity affect growth.

Did you ever see the movie 'The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'?

"The film is The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), directed by Paul Newman and based on Paul Zindel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.  The plot centers on Matilda Hunsdorfer, a shy, intelligent teenager who conducts a science experiment to determine how gamma radiation affects marigold seeds. 
While excessive radiation causes the plants to wither or die, Matilda discovers that small amounts of radiation create strange, beautiful mutations.  This serves as a central metaphor for the film, illustrating how Matilda manages to remain uncorrupted and bloom despite growing up in a grim, emotionally abusive household with her unstable mother, Beatrice"

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Although the radiation hitting astronauts in space may not be gamma rays:

"Humans in space are exposed to ionizing radiation primarily consisting of three types: galactic cosmic rays (GCR), solar particle events (SPE), and trapped radiation belts. 

• Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR): High-energy particles originating from outside the solar system, such as protons and heavy ions from supernovae, which are difficult to shield against. 
  
• Solar Particle Events (SPE): Charged particles (mostly protons) emitted by the Sun during solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which can deliver high doses in short periods. 
  
• Trapped Radiation: Energetic protons and electrons held in Earth’s magnetic field, known as the Van Allen belts." (LLM)
  

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Why do we have to assume it will be bad for us? Or that we can't manipulate it.

[BeyondKnowledge]

Chances are if we ever manage to devise a means of travelling between star systems.

We will send frozen embryos and grow people at the destination point as opposed to sending actual astronauts.

Makes sense to find out how radiation and microgravity affect growth.

And when they arrive, the humans that left after them will have a colony already there. 

A slow sleeper ship will be long passed by faster ships before arriving. It is just the way technology advances.

The third ship launched will arrive first and do the survey and initial set up. Then the second ship will arrive with supprised passengers, their survey work already done years before. The first ship launched will arrive years later and add to the confusion.

[quintessentone]

And when they arrive, the humans that left after them will have a colony already there. 

A slow sleeper ship will be long passed by faster ships before arriving. It is just the way technology advances.

The third ship launched will arrive first and do the survey and initial set up. Then the second ship will arrive with supprised passengers, their survey work already done years before. The first ship launched will arrive years later and add to the confusion.

That is assuming they don't crack the communication/data hitching a ride via light code. There should be no surprised astronauts.

[Grim Reaper 6]

No, thank you for posting such an interesting thread, which is right up my interest alley.

Your certainly welcome, I hope to post more in the future

Take care my friend