UAS-Dharwad fruit flies will go in ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission to understand kidney stone formation and bone degradation in astronauts
Astronauts experience an increased risk of kidney stone formation in space owing to elevated calcium excretion from bone loss, increased urine acidity, consumption of dehydrated food, and less urine output. Hence, it is required to understand the molecular mechanisms of stone formation in space. And we need countermeasures with improved treatment to mitigate kidney stone risks.
In this regard, the ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission that is set to take off next year, the fruit flies developed by the UAS-Dharwad will be part of ISRO’s mission and have been selected for a biological experiment. The Study Kit contains 20 fruit flies, with an equal number of males and females. The kit has been prepared after two years of research and is worth Rs 78 lakh. The flies will reproduce, and their food is prepared using semolina and jaggery, with sodium oxalate added.
Among 75 agricultural universities from India submitted the models of fruit flies. Now a payload of the Gaganyaan mission will feature a study on “Understanding Kidney Stone Formation in Space Using Fruit Flies: Relevance to Astronaut Health.” This research could pave the way for the preservation of food and the protection of astronauts’ health in space. The study is also crucial for finding solutions to health issues like bone degradation and kidney stones, which astronauts may face in space. This experiment is in progress. The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has developed the hardware kit.
Dr. Ravikumar Hosamani, a young biologist from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, and his team have received accolades for their innovative model.
Fruit flies are known for their physical structure, which is similar to that of humans. The changes that occur in these flies under zero gravity are expected to provide valuable insights for future manned space missions. The Gaganyaan spacecraft will orbit the Earth in zero gravity for two to seven days before returning to the ocean near Gujarat. Scientists will closely monitor the changes in the sample kit during this period.
Prof. PL Patil, Vice Chancellor UAS-Dharwad informed that specialized hardware would be created for conducting Drosophila experiments in space including fruit flies’ vials. With 77% gene homology related to human diseases, a short lifecycle, and low cost, Drosophila melanogaster offers significant advantages. Notably, its Malpighian tubules closely mimic the human kidney in genetic composition, function, and structure, making it an excellent model for studying and quantifying kidney stone formation. Therefore, Drosophila Melanogaster is utilized to investigate kidney stone pathology under short-duration spaceflight conditions.
These flies will be provided with a diet containing chemicals that induce kidney stones. Upon their return to earth, we will dissect the Malpighian tubules of the flies-structures that are similar to human kidneys for further analysis in collaboration with the IIST team,” the Prof said.
