Scientists successfully grow mouse embryos in space - Important step for human space colonization

04/19/2016 - 21:43

Chen Na


Chinese scientists on Sunday said they have successfully developed early-stage mouse embryos in space for the first time on a retrievable microgravity satellite set to return to Earth sometime next week.

The SJ-10 research probe, launched on April 6, carried over 6,000 mouse embryos in a self-sufficient chamber the size of a microwave oven, according to Duan Enkui, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Among them, 600 embryos were put under a high-resolution camera, which took pictures every four hours for four days and sent them back to Earth.

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