NASA's latest mission to the ISS features a bacterial experiment
After reaching the ISS, the experiment will see the different bacterial species grow before being returned to Earth to be tested against counterparts that were grown simultaneously in an identical lab under normal conditions. The experiment's results will help scientists understand how bacteria respond to zero gravity and could help astronauts, who are more prone to infections during missions due to stress, exposure to radiation and changes in gravity. However, the research could prove useful beyond space missions. With the onset of superbugs that show antibiotic resistance, the experiment could reveal ways to combat more robust bacterial strains.
"This experiment will allow us, for the first time, to systematically and molecularly map how the genetic expression profile of several pathogenic bacteria changes in space," Ohad Gal-Mor, head of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at Sheba, said in a press release.
The medical center previously conducted a test with bacteria in simulated space conditions, which showed a reduced ability to develop antibiotic resistance, but the latest experiment is the first one to take place at the ISS. It's not the first time scientists have studied bacteria's behavior in microgravity conditions, since researchers from the University of Houston tested how E. coli would grow in a simulated space environment back in 2017. More recently, NASA launched an experiment tasking astronauts to swab the interiors of the ISS and test them for evidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
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