How does space affect the mind? China sends ‘mini-brain’ to Tiangong to find out

Name: China’s Tianzhou-9 cargo craft launches for Tiangong space station resupply mission
Uploaded: 2025-07-17T14:00:10.000Z
Duration: 1 min 25 s
Description: China’s Tianzhou-9 cargo craft launches for Tiangong space station resupply mission

Experiment appears to be the first in space involving a highly integrated chip containing human brain cells and blood vessels

Reading Time:2 minutes

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The experiment was launched on the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft, which blasted off from a site in southern China on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Ling Xinin Ohio

Published: 10:00pm, 17 Jul 2025Updated: 10:22pm, 17 Jul 2025

China has sent a living “mini-brain” – a chip the size of a credit card containing human brain cells and blood vessels – to its Tiangong space station to find out how space messes with the mind.

Researchers aboard the International Space Station have previously used brain cell cultures and early-stage brain organoids to study ageing and disorders such as Alzheimer’s.

But China’s experiment appears to be the first time a highly integrated brain chip featuring blood-brain barrier functions has been sent into space.

Launched on the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft on Tuesday, the experiment aims to probe the effects of microgravity on the brain and eventually help astronauts prevent dizziness, sleep problems and changes in cognitive function during long missions, according to lead scientist Qin Jianhua of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics.

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China’s Tianzhou-9 cargo craft launches for Tiangong space station resupply mission

The brain model – grown from living tissue including nerve and immune cells, capillary-like vessels and a barrier that mimics the brain’s natural defences – offers more human-like data than traditional cell cultures or animal experiments, Qin told the state-run China News Service on Tuesday.

She said its three-dimensional, dynamic design also allowed real-time observation of how brain tissues behaved in orbit, making it a powerful tool for space medicine, neuroscience research and drug development.

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