Published on: 2026-05-14
Source: The People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Beijing, May 14 /Xin Hua/ — China has begun the world’s first space experiment with artificial human embryos, samples of which have already been loaded onto its space station, and the research is proceeding smoothly, scientists announced on Wednesday.
Cargo delivered by the “Tianzhou-10” cargo spacecraft, launched earlier this week, containing samples of artificial human embryos, was placed on an orbiting cosmonaut-accessible module of the space station, the Technological and Engineering Center for Space Utilization at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is responsible for the experiment, reported.
“The experiment is going very successfully,” said Yu Lecsian, head of the space scientific experiment project with artificial embryos. “The preliminarily configured automated system changes the nutrient medium for the samples every day.” According to him, with the help of this experiment, scientists intend to conduct preliminary studies on issues related to the long-term habitation, survival, and reproduction of humans in space.
Artificial embryos are structures created from stem cells that closely resemble real embryos. “An artificial human embryo is made from human stem cells, considered as ‘raw material,'” explained Yu Liecian. “This is not a real human embryo, and it is incapable of developing into an individual. However, it can serve as a model for studying human organism development at early stages.”
Samples of artificial embryos consist of two types of models: one grown on a uterine cell, and the other placed in a microfluidic chip. The purpose of the study is to clarify the influence of microgravity conditions in space on the development of the human embryo at early stages. According to scientists, identical samples are also simultaneously studied in laboratories on Earth.
It is planned that the experiment with the artificial human embryo will last five days in space. After that, the samples will be frozen in orbit and later returned to Earth for a comparative analysis with samples studied on Earth.
“We hope that by comparing the results of studying cosmic and terrestrial samples, we will be able to identify factors affecting early embryonic development of humans in the cosmic environment, and eliminate risks and problems that people may face during prolonged stays in space,” said Yu Leqing.
China launched the cargo spacecraft “Tianzhou-10” from the Wenchang Cosmodrome on Monday morning to deliver supplies to its orbital station. In addition to artificial human embryos, the delivered materials included 41 projects for conducting space scientific experiments, including embryos of danio fish and mice. -0-
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