Astronauts can now sequence microbes they find on the International Space Station (ISS) without having to send them back to Earth:
Being able to identify microbes in real time aboard the International Space Station, without having to send them back to Earth for identification first, would be revolutionary for the world of microbiology and space exploration. The Genes in Space-3 team turned that possibility into a reality this year, when it completed the first-ever sample-to-sequence process entirely aboard the space station. Results from their investigation were published in Scientific Reports [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18364-0] [DX].
The ability to identify microbes in space could aid in the ability to diagnose and treat astronaut ailments in real time, as well as assisting in the identification of DNA-based life on other planets. It could also benefit other experiments aboard the orbiting laboratory. Identifying microbes involves isolating the DNA of samples, and then amplifying – or making many copies - of that DNA that can then be sequenced, or identified.
The investigation was broken into two parts: the collection of the microbial samples and amplification by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), then sequencing and identification of the microbes. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson conducted the experiment aboard the orbiting laboratory, with NASA microbiologist and the project's Principal Investigator Sarah Wallace and her team watching and guiding her from Houston.
Now Russian cosmonauts can test their crazy ideas. At least, until the ISS gets split apart and deorbited.
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Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov suspects an extraterrestrial origin for bacteria found on the exterior of the ISS:
A Russian cosmonaut claims to have caught aliens. Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov says he found bacteria clinging to the external surface of the International Space Station that didn't come from the surface of Earth.
Shkaplerov told the Russian news agency that cosmonauts collected the bacteria by swabbing the outside of the space station during space walks years ago.
"And now it turns out that somehow these swabs reveal bacteria that were absent during the launch of the ISS module," Shkapkerov told TASS. "That is, they have come from outer space and settled along the external surface. They are being studied so far and it seems that they pose no danger."
A recent study suggests that interplanetary dust can transport microbes to or from Earth:
Astronomers have long believed that asteroid (or comet) impacts were the only natural way to transport life between planets. However, a new study published November 6 in Astrobiology suggests otherwise.
The study, authored by Professor Arjun Berera from the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy, suggests that life on Earth may have begun when fast-moving streams of space dust carried microscopic organisms to our planet. Berera found that these streams of interplanetary dust are not only capable of transporting particles to Earth, but also from it.
Space Dust Collisions as a Planetary Escape Mechanism (DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1662) (DX) (arXiv link above)
The ISS is crawling with nasty bacteria
NASA scientists have found that the International Space Station (ISS), home to six astronauts, is infested with disease-inducing bacteria. Many of the organisms breeding on the craft's surfaces are known to form both bacterial and fungal biofilms that promote resistance to antibiotics. The NASA team published their findings in a new study -- the first comprehensive catalog of germs in closed space systems -- in the journal Microbiome [open, DOI: 10.1186/s40168-019-0666-x] [DX]. The biofilms ability to cause microbial-induced corrosion on Earth could also play havoc with the ISS' infrastructure by causing mechanical blockages, claim the researchers.
The microbes come from humans and are similar to the ones in gyms, offices, and hospitals on Earth. They include so-called opportunistic pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (commonly found on the skin and in the nasal passage) and Enterobacter (associated with the human gastrointestinal tract). Though they can cause diseases back on Earth, it's unclear what, if any, affect they'd have on the ISS' inhabitants.
Also at BGR.
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Microbes Sampled and Sequenced Aboard the ISS
Prolonged Spaceflight Could Weaken Astronauts' Immune Systems
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Friday December 29 2017, @10:45PM (1 child)
I would be very interested to learn of "DNA-based life" on other planets, unless it was something that came from our planet, intentionally or not.
If that is what we find, and it didn't come from this planet, then likely we didn't originate here. Which would be oh-so-interesting. And perhaps even encouraging. I like the idea of at least somewhat similar life elsewhere, and such a finding would seem to make that more likely.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday December 30 2017, @04:54PM
I disagree that the possession of DNA is the crucial test. The crucial test, it seems to me, is the mapping between DNA triplets and amino acids. This appears to be essentially random, where there are plausible reasons to believe that DNA components may have existed at the time the Earth was formed. Some of them have been spectroscopically detected in clouds of dust out in space. But there seems to be no particular reason that any one DNA triplet should be associated with any particular one amino acid. That's down to the detailed structure of the Ribosome.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 29 2017, @10:59PM
diagnose and treat astronaut ailments in real time
The "diagnose" part seems reasonable.
...as for the "treat" part, I'm trying to imagine just how big their medicine chest would have to be.
...and that assumes that a treatment for the H6N13 virus infection they have is even commercially available.
Having to grow your own meds in chicken eggs doesn't sound like an instant thing.
...and just how fresh do the eggs have to be?
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 30 2017, @01:25AM
*finally*
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday December 30 2017, @03:07AM
when do we send Sigourney Weaver up?
I don't remember her in Annie Hall. I'm going to have to watch again
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by gringer on Saturday December 30 2017, @08:56PM
That Scientific Reports paper is about the previous sequencing experiment that was done on the ISS, using pre-prepared samples of mouse, virus, and bacteria.
Ask me about Sequencing DNA in front of Linus Torvalds [youtube.com]