better not leave their birth control on Earth. New research suggests you do not need gravity to make a baby.
In experiments with mice, Japanese researchers found that embryos created in low-gravity conditions that simulated space travel went on to implant and develop normally.
The scientists first fertilized mice eggs in vitro -- in laboratory culture dishes--under normal or "microgravity'' conditions. Some embryos were transferred into female mice for gestation and birth. No significant differences in the success of fertilization or in birth rates occurred in the two different gravity conditions, according to a report in the December issue of Fertility and Sterility.
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"We believe that gravity is not required for fertilization,'' they write.
However, in additional culture experiments, the investigators did find that embryos created under the space-like conditions were less likely to survive. Early embryo death may be more likely in microgravity conditions, the report indicates.
Astronauts have lived in space for four decades, Kojima and colleagues point out, but most of them have been men. In the future, "manned interplanetary colonization will eventually lead to gestation and birth in space,'' they note.
Therefore, scientists need to understand the potential for human reproduction in the absence of earthly gravity, the researchers conclude.
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