Rodent Research 19 Mighty Mice

On Thursday, December 5, researchers from The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX-GM), UConn Health, and Connecticut Children’s sent genetically-engineered “Mighty Mice” to the International Space Station to learn about the effect of microgravity on muscle and bone loss.

The mice were launched at 12:29 p.m. EST on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. These Mighty Mice are special mice raised by JAX’s custom breeding team in Bar Harbor, Maine, that are genetically engineered to lack myostatin and therefore display approximately twice the average muscle mass. The mice will spend approximately the next 30 days in space to help researcher Se-Jin Lee, M.D., Ph.D., professor at JAX-GM and Presidential Distinguished Professor at UConn School of Medicine, understand the impact of microgravity on muscle and bone degeneration.

Approximately  3" by 4"