The first batch of fruit flies bred in orbit by China's space station will soon return to Earth with the Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft. Chinese scientists conducting related research have expressed the hope of achieving multiple scientific results. Fruit flies are small in size, reproduce quickly, and exhibit diverse behaviors. They are highly homologous to the human genome sequence and are an excellent model organism that combines conservation and adaptability. On November 15, 2024, China carried fruit flies into space for the first time through the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft for experiments, aiming to study the growth and development, behavioral performance, and gene expression changes of organisms in the space sub magnetic microgravity composite environment. According to Li Yan, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, three generations of fruit flies have been bred in a month long experiment, and astronauts have conducted transfer operations and sampling collection for each generation. This is the first time that China has built a fruit fly cultivation platform and conducted scientific research in the Chinese space station, and also the first time internationally that a space sub magnetic environment has been set up in the space station to explore its biological effects. Li Yan said, "This indicates that fruit flies have reproductive abilities such as growth, development, and mating in the special environment of space lacking gravity and magnetic fields. It provides an important foundation for studying the effects of biological reproduction, development, brain, and behavior in space environments, and also provides scientific basis for the health guarantee of future human space travel. In addition, researchers have obtained a large amount of video data to analyze and study the growth, development, sleep, mating, and other behavioral characteristics of fruit flies in space environments. Through the video, we have seen some new behavioral patterns that are completely different from those on the ground. Due to the lack of gravity, fruit flies can float or even flip their heads, resulting in a lower mating success rate compared to the ground. ”Li Yan said, "While floating, fruit flies also constantly rub their legs, which can be seen on the ground and reflects their anxiety state, just like how humans scratch their heads when they are anxious." The fruit fly's research platform on the Chinese space station is located in a small universal incubator in the life ecology experimental cabinet, which can strictly control temperature, humidity, light cycle, and gas circulation conditions. According to Zhang Wei, a researcher at the Space Application Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Center for Application Development, since the launch of the satellite lab on July 24, 2022, the life ecology laboratory cabinet has successively carried out space growth experiments on Arabidopsis thaliana, nematodes, fruit flies, zebrafish and other animals and plants. These experiments are expected to reveal the impact of microgravity on the growth, development and metabolism of individual organisms, and promote human understanding of the essence of life phenomena. According to the plan, the Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft will return to Earth in the near future. These frozen fruit flies will return with the spacecraft for research and analysis such as gene sequencing, "said Li Yan. (New Society)