Study into how fertilisation could work in space finds sperm may get disorientated when trying to find an egg
Sperm in space are likely to get disoriented and lost while struggling to find their way to an egg, a new study has found.
When exposed to microgravity in experiments, sperm tumble around like an untethered astronaut, according to Adelaide University researchers.
“It causes them to flip around, to go upside down … they don’t really know which way is up or down,” researcher Dr Nicole McPherson said.
Australia is part of Nasa’s planned Artemis mission to go to the moon and on to Mars, while private companies including Elon Musk’s SpaceX plan to build human habitats on Mars. As a result there has been increasing interest in how humans might reproduce and breed animals in extraterrestrial habitats.
