A team of scientists are planningto send thousands of microscopic worms to the International Space Station (ISS) for experiments.

Scientists are trying to determine what triggers the body to build and lose muscle. Three new experiments led by UK research teams for sending lifeforms to the ISS were selected for further consideration. The experiments will be coordinated by Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japanese and Canadian space agencies.

One experiment, which is led by Dr Timothy Etheridge of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Exeter, is aiming to use a nematode worm species called Caenorhabditiselegans, which are useful for studying long term changes in human physiology as they face muscle loss under similar conditions in which humans face muscle loss. The experiment is likely to be conducted between 2017 and 2020.

Experts said that these microscopic wormswill be placed in small bags of liquid food and taken to the ISS. These worms will be allowed to live and produce offspring for five and a half days before they are frozen and brought back to Earth for analysis.Muscle weakness and reduced muscle mass is a regular problem in spaceflight but findings may have wider potential application to help people with dystrophy and diabetes, people immobilised by casts and the elderly.