Animals

The goal of the space biology program in the animal biology area is understand the basic mechanism that animal use to adapt and acclimate to space and alterations in low gravity.

Animals are used to model human disease as well as how humans respond to stress stimuli. The most used model organisms for which genomics are now well defined include vertebrate species, e.g., rodents, both rats and mice, and a variety of invertebrate species, e.g., nematodes and insects. NASA has used these model organisms extensively to evaluate biological spaceflight hazards, elucidate the fundamental mechanisms life uses to adapt to microgravity, and apply such knowledge to advance human exploration, and for societal benefits on Earth.