What happens to worms in space? │ Sending Worms to Space with Colleen Deane

What happens to worms when they are in space, and what is the Molecular Muscle Experiment? The Molecular Muscle Experiment is studying what happens to worms on the International Space Station. If it helps scientists understand more about muscle problems among astronauts, it may help us travel further into space, such as to Mars.

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Now, for years and years, C. elegans have been sent to space to try and help us understand what happens to the body during space flight. Now, of course, C. elegans are sent because they are easy, cheap to maintain whilst up there.

Now, early experiments found that C. elegans can grow and have babies in space. That’s amazing, right? And just like humans, worms are exposed to radiation, and these worms ended up having health problems, like humans. And on closer inspection, worms and humans show similar molecular changes in space. Now, this includes changes in the molecules within our muscle and the ability to produce energy.

When these changes happen to humans on Earth, they lead to health problems like diabetes and muscular dystrophy. Understanding how space flight leads to these changes in worms might tell us why the same changes occur in astronauts. They may also help us improve treatments for diseases such as diabetes, and further, they may help us understand ageing muscles on Earth. And if so, we can stay healthier for longer.

So, we conducted the first UK-led experiment to the International Space Station, and we called this the Molecular Muscle Experiment. And the aim of this experiment is to try and identify the exact molecules that cause muscle problems during space flight. And we also wanted to test the effectiveness of new interventions for preventing muscle decline associated with space flight.

Now, this project involved sending worms – remember those tiny, microscopic C. elegans? – to space from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Now, this was done to test our theories that the cell sensing of energy in muscle declines in space. And also that the cell sensing of the mechanical loading, for example that done with exercise, that also declines in space.

So, in order to maximise this space flight opportunity, we invited scientific collaborators from the United States, from South Korea, Japan and Greece to investigate other factors influencing the worm body’s response to space flight.

Now, their theories included a range of different things, but involved looking at the powerhouses of the cell, which are the mitochondria, looking at the nervous system, and also looking at genes that regulate the response to exercise.

So, how were over 30,000 worms sent to space? And what happens to worms onboard the International Space Station? If you’re interested, watch the next video to find out.

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