A Japanese team of researchers has succeeded in the reproduction of mice using freeze-dried sperm preserved in space for nearly six years, developing what could be a "Noah's Ark" type of technology to save plants and animals from extinction in the future.

The study published last month in the Science Advances journal said a total of 168 mice were born in 2019 and 2020 after the sperm was brought back from the International Space Station despite exposure to space radiation.

The preservation period of five years and 10 months is the world's "longest duration that samples have been preserved in the ISS in biological research," the study said.