Drosophila flies aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft traveled to the International Space Station to participate in the Cytomechanarium experiment. Roscosmos officials confirmed the crew assignment, with the mission commander mentioning the objective and significance of the study.
The heart of the project lies in exploring whether epigenetic information can be preserved across generations in a microgravity environment. During the ISS-69 expedition’s September session, a first generation of fruit flies that had returned to Earth was studied, while eleven subsequent generations continued to be bred at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The team commander noted that the arriving population on the space station represented the 12th generation of Drosophila used in this series of experiments. This lineage connects the present work with the lineage that began on Earth, linking generations across space and time. [Citation: Roscosmos and TASS reports on the Cytomechanarium project]
After the spaceflight experiment with insects, scientists anticipate a wide array of Earth-based studies designed to reveal the molecular and cellular mechanisms behind the inheritance of epigenetic information. Such findings aim to illuminate how living organisms respond to weightlessness and how these adaptations might be written into biological memory across generations.
Kononenko explained that the space station procedure is straightforward. Test tubes containing the fruit flies are placed in a designated area of the service module, and after a defined period, the samples are returned to Earth. This simple setup underpins a long-term research program focused on transmission of epigenetic states under microgravity conditions.
In related coverage, discussions around the reception of cultural projects connected to space exploration continued, with Peresild providing input on audience reactions to her film experience and related media discussions in China. [Citation: Roscosmos and affiliated coverage on space research and media commentary]