The Effect of Cosmic Radiation on Silkworm Eggs

We investigated the lethal and mutageneic effects of cosmic radiation on silkworm eggs, using the Radiation Monitoring Container and Dosimeter in the Russian space station "Mir" as part of the first MIR utilization space experiment. In hatching and pupation, there was difference in survival rate between the launched eggs and the eggs on the earth. But, in emergence, there was no difference in it between them. In order to detect the mutation frequency, we used the specific locus method using the egg-color gene pe and re located on the fifth chromosome. The mutation frequency was 12.4 × 10-3 in space, as compared with controls, it was very high. We think that the cause is the effect of cosmic rays and micro gravity