Bacteria are more toxic when flying into space

A recent test that brought bacteria into space has detected a trip that makes them much more dangerous. The discovery could open up ways to make better antibiotics on Earth.

The team at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, USA, sent salmonella bacteria bags, known for their ability to cause food poisoning, and two other strains of bacteria on the space shuttle Atlantis to fly into space in the year. 2006. After they returned, the team found that these tiny astronauts were sick and died for three times more mice than similar bacteria kept on Earth.

Flying into space does not make it possible for bacteria to do everything they cannot on Earth, but it eliminates the effect of gravity, allowing scientists to isolate some processes themselves. course is going on.

Also, when traveling like that, bacteria not only kill mice faster, but also have different gene activity than those on the ground.

Salmonella bacteria become more toxic after flying into space.
(Photo: Space.com)

However, the cause of this is still unclear. The author thinks that cells that respond directly to a force called fluid shear - are the effects that water and other fluids cause when they pass through the surface of an object, in this case the layer Bacterial outer shell.

"When flying into space, the almost zero gravity environment makes the force that liquid presses on cells is very small," explained assistant professor Cheryl Nickerson of the research team.

The findings will help researchers make better antibiotics for astronauts, as well as for people living on earth.

T. An