Space radiation may cause DNA damage to cells and concern for the inheritance of mutations in offspring after deep space exploration. However, there is no way to study the long-term effects of space radiation using biological materials. Here, we developed a method to evaluate the biological effect of space radiation and examined the reproductive potential of mouse freeze-dried spermatozoa stored on the International Space Station (ISS) for the longest period in biological research. The space radiation did not affect sperm DNA or fertility after preservation on ISS, and many genetically normal offspring were obtained without reducing the success rate compared to the ground-preserved control. The results of ground x-ray experiments showed that sperm can be stored for more than 200 years in space. These results suggest that the effect of deep space radiation on mammalian reproduction can be evaluated using spermatozoa, even without being monitored by astronauts in Gateway.

太空辐射可能对细胞造成 DNA 损伤，并担心深空探索后后代的突变遗传。然而，没有办法使用生物材料研究空间辐射的长期影响。在这里，我们开发了一种评估空间辐射生物学效应的方法，并检查了在生物学研究中储存在国际空间站 (ISS) 上时间最长的小鼠冻干精子的繁殖潜力。空间辐射在国际空间站保存后不影响精子 DNA 或生育能力，与地面保存的对照相比，获得了许多基因正常的后代，没有降低成功率。地面X射线实验结果表明，精子在太空中可以储存200多年。