Can worms help our muscles breathe better? │ Sending Worms to Space with Colleen Deane

How can studying worms in space help us understand how our muscles breathe? Watch the next video in our series and find out about the role of different molecules and parts of the cells that are responsible for breathing.

Subscribe to this fascinating series to discover more about the research that aims to help us live longer on Earth and travel deeper into space.

Building upon the success of the Molecular Muscle Experiment, we are conducting another space flight experiment called the Molecular Muscle Experiment II.

Now, like the first experiment, this experiment will also involve sending worms to space, but this one is going to investigate another set of molecules that might be causing muscle decline in space. Specifically, this project will test the response of molecules involved in helping the muscles breathe, and it will also be investigating the molecules that help the muscles contract in response to the microgravity environment that is space.

We will also be testing the effects of new and exciting drug therapies on the worms in space, and this will be to see if they can help stop the negative effects of space flight on the ability of our muscles to breathe and contract. Similarly to the first mission, the Molecular Muscle Experiment II involves international collaborations from China, Japan, USA, the Netherlands and South Korea. All of these collaborators will be provided with the opportunity to send their worms to space to test their own hypotheses about space flight-induced changes on the body.

The Molecular Muscle Experiment will be conducted in a similar way to the first mission. First of all, the experimental hardware for the worms’ journey to space will be designed with specialist engineers. So, if you can remember from the Molecular Muscle Experiment, we designed those special bags that help the worms breathe and also the cassettes that send them to space.

Once complete, this whole experiment will be tested on Earth before preparing for the real launch to the Kennedy Space Centre. For the real experiment, worms will be loaded into their specialised bags and cassettes on the day before they launch. They will then be handed over to the SpaceX team, who will install them into the Dragon capsule.

After the launch and the docking of the Dragon to the International Space Station, the worms will be offloaded onto the International Space Station. Here, they will be put in that cubic, which gives them a nice temperature to live in, and they'll be there for 5 days. This 5-day experimental period in which space flight can induce changes to the muscle molecules will lead to the muscle decline.

After this period, the worms will be frozen and later sent back to Earth, where they will be analysed in the labs. The launch of the Molecular Muscle Experiment 2 is due to take place in 2021, so keep your eyes on our Twitter page @worms_space for progress updates in the lead up to launch.

We will also be updating our Twitter page for progress of the launch and afterwards, so please do have a look.

Why are researchers on the Worms in Space programme making a special effort to engage with the public? What do outreach activities on the ground have to do with research going on the International Space Station?

Watch our next episode to find out. In fact, subscribe to all of the episodes in this ground-breaking series on research. Hit the bell button to be notified about new videos as they become available.