(NaturalNews) Salmonella bacteria sent into outer space responded to the
altered gravity by becoming more virulent, with changed expression of 167
different genes, according to a study published in the
Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
"These bugs can sense where they are by changes in their
environment," said Cheryl Nickerson, from the Center for Infectious
Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University (ASU). "The minute
they sense a different environment, they change their genetic machinery so they
can survive."
Researchers placed strains of Salmonella typhimurium, a common food-poisoning
agent, into two separate containment canisters. One of the canisters was sent
into
outer space for 12 days, while the other
remained in the Orbital Environmental Simulator at Kennedy Space Center. The
environmental simulator remained in constant communication with the space
shuttle, immediately replicating in real-time whatever temperature and humidity
conditions were being experienced in the vessel. This allowed the two groups of
bacteria
to be exposed to identical conditions, except for the fact that one group was
under microgravity conditions in outer space.
The findings may be significant not only for those who travel in space, but
also in terms of what
microbes astronauts are bringing back.
"Wherever humans go, microbes go; you can't sterilize humans,"
Nickerson said. "Wherever we go, under the oceans or orbiting the Earth,
the microbes go with us, and it's important that we understand... how they're
going to change."
Nickerson also said that since S. typhimurium exists in a natural microgravity
in the human gut, understanding how environmental conditions regulate the
organism's virulence may help lead to better treatments.
In addition to researchers from ASU, scientists also participated in the study
from the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers, Kimmel Cancer Center, NASA Ames
Research Center, Oklahoma City University, Tulane University, University of
Arizona, University of Chicago, University of Colorado at Boulder and Denver,
Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, and the Max Planck Institute
for Infection Biology in Berlin.
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