China Deploys Fruit Flies in Space Station

Pretty Fly

Not long after it brought on a fresh crew of astronauts, China's Tiangong space station has received yet another group of new visitors: fruit flies.

As Space.com reports, the critters — consisting of 15 adults and 40 pupae — caught a ride aboard the recent Tianzhou 8 resupply mission, which successfully linked up with the orbital outpost on November 15.

Now, the flies will be used to study the biological effects of living beyond the pull of Earth's gravity — and beyond the purview of its magnetic field.

"This in-space, sub-magnetic fruit fly experiment primarily aims to study the molecular mechanisms of fruit flies in microgravity and sub-magnetic environments, as well as their movement characteristics and whether there are any changes in their biological rhythms," Zheng Weibo, a researcher from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, told China Central Television, as quoted by Space.com.

Field Day

As Zheng explains, "magnetic fields have a significant impact on living beings" — which is an understatement.

The Earth's magnetic field protects us from dangerous cosmic rays and other forms of radiation that zip through space — not to mention our Sun's dangerous outbursts. Without it, it's unlikely that life could have survived for long on this hunk of rock. (Counterintuitively, when the magnetosphere nearly collapsed half a billion years ago, it seemingly instigated a boom in biodiversity.)

In deep space, however, there won't be a magnetic field to shield human explorers. That could spell trouble.

Since the Tiangong is parked in low Earth orbit, where the Earth's magnetic field is still protective, the researchers have designed a "sub-magnetic environment inside the space station, while also maintaining an Earth's magnetic field environment for comparison this time," Zheng said.

Egg Case

But why fruit flies? The insects have been a favorite of biomedical and genetic research for a century now, and for good reason.

We now know that fruit flies have a lot in common genetically with us humans than once believed, for one. We've also completely mapped their genome.

On the practical side, fruit flies have a short life cycle of just two weeks, and females lay hundreds of eggs at a time. They're also a lot easier to take care of than mammalian alternatives like lab rats.

Presumably, the fact that they're tiny bugs makes them much more convenient to send into space, too. In fact, the International Space Station once had an entire, mini-lab — and we really mean mini — dedicated to fruit fly research, though it's currently back on terra firma.

"We're also planning to send mice to the space station in the future to conduct in-depth studies on their nervous systems, bones, muscles, immunity, and other key areas," Zhang said in a statement in October.

More on space: Experts Worried That Destroying the Space Station Will Damage the Earth's Environment