Fruit Flies to Fly on India's Gaganyaan-1 to Study Space Travel's Impact

A team from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai plans to send fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) aboard Gaganyaan-1, India's first human space flight. The purpose is to assess the effects of space travel on living organisms, specifically the biological changes and stresses experienced during flight. Fruit flies were chosen because they share nearly 75% of the genetic pathways influencing human disease, making them suitable for studying biological phenomena. "Our experiments with Drosophila will simulate the effects of short-term space travel - around seven days of microgravity - to understand how it impacts metabolic fitness and healthspan," said Juilee Adarkar, a researcher on the project, to Nature India. "Most studies so far have focused on long-term exposure aboard the International Space Station (ISS). We're filling a gap in understanding the aftermath of shorter missions like Gaganyaan." The flies will be housed in vials and monitored in real-time. Their lifespan of 5-60 days aligns with the Gaganyaan Mission's 5-7 day duration. Two groups of flies will be used: one launched into space and a control group on Earth, for comparison. The team will study the SIRT1 gene, encoding the SIRT1 protein, which is part of the sirtuin enzyme family. These enzymes are important in cellular regulation, ageing, metabolism, and stress resistance. "We will investigate whether manipulating SIRT1 levels can shield organisms from the adverse effects of space travel," stated Ullas Kolthur, leading the TIFR team, to Nature India. "This could open new possibilities for dietary or pharmaceutical interventions to improve health outcomes for astronauts." The Gaganyaan mission aims to send Indian astronauts to low-earth orbit and return them safely. The program includes two uncrewed test flights before the crewed mission, with the first uncrewed flight scheduled for 2025.