WASHINGTON: Though zebrafish are not deadlifting weights in orbit, they are helping researchers learn about muscle changes during their stay aboard the International Space Station.
This impacts not only the fish, but also the crew and can have implications for Earth-related muscle challenges too. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Zebrafish Muscle investigation observes the effects of microgravity on the zebrafish, Danio rerio, a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family.
This research has the potential to lead to new drugs or treatments for patients on extended bed rest or with limited mobility. In addition to the potential human benefits, results from this study could aid researchers in developing countermeasures for muscle weakness in astronauts living in microgravity during extended missions.
“The main question of the Zebrafish Muscle experiment is whether atrophy of muscles under microgravity also occurs in fish, and why that muscle atrophy occurs in microgravity,” explains Atsuko Sehara-Fujisawa, principal investigator and professor at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan.
Muscle atrophy is the wasting of muscle tissue. This occurs in microgravity since the muscles are not used to resist the force of gravity, as they would be on the ground. Astronauts mitigate this atrophy through prescribed daily exercise, yet some still lose bone and muscle mass during extended spaceflight.
In this investigation, the zebrafish is used as a model for comparison to larger organisms. Researchers use model organisms such as plants, animals or microbes like yeast to study the influence of microgravity on cells. Taking these organisms to space allows for examination of growth and development and physiological, psychological and aging processes without the impact of gravity. Previous observation of Medaka fish aboard the station monitored changes in bone impacted due to the microgravity environment.
