Beefcake Mice Retain Their Muscles In Space

If genetically-engineered mice can keep their muscle mass in space, does that mean we don’t have to worry about our weight when we go up to space? Assuming we get a chance to do so, of course. Microgravity can make people’s muscle mass and bone density wither away. It can take months for astronauts to recover their muscle density after a six-month stay on the International Space Station. Bone density? It can take years to recover that. Ouch. In an experiment done to find a way that astronauts can avoid those problems, genetically-engineered mice, called “Mighty Mice” spent 33 days aboard the ISS and was able to retain more muscle and bone density than the control mice that were not tinkered with, as ScienceAlert detailed: 

"These findings," the researchers wrote in their paper, "have implications for therapeutic strategies to combat the concomitant muscle and bone loss occurring in people afflicted with disuse atrophy on Earth as well as in astronauts in space, especially during prolonged missions."
The target of the engineering was a protein called myostatin, which plays a significant role in regulating muscle growth. Mutations in the myostatin gene can produce something called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, resulting in mega beefcake muscling: this has been observed in some cattle, and this viral whippet.

Image via ScienceAlert


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