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Space Builds Better Bugs?

Accepted submission by hellcat http://cbt0.wordpress.com at 2017-09-14 02:56:39 from the Microbiomes-R-Us dept.
Science

From the original article: [1] [frontiersin.org]

... bacteria will accompany humans in our exploration of space. The average healthy individual carries trillions of microorganisms in and on their body, outnumbering human cells (Sender et al., 2016). This human microbiome includes opportunistic pathogens, microbes that do not normally cause disease in a healthy person but can provoke an infection when the person’s immune system is suppressed, a concern known to occur during spaceflight (Borchers et al., 2002; Mermel, 2013). It is therefore important to understand bacterial behavior in space in preparation for future long-term human space exploration missions.

Turns out that E coli grew better in space, even while bathed in an antibiotic.

The Gizmodo take is a bit alarmist, but the research suggests that poor diffusion of nutrients may be the biggest factor in why the bugs behave differently.

If you want to despoil another world, we have to worry about having more mouths to feed. Not just one mouth, maybe 10 trillion. They are coming along for the ride. Will our lunar and martian colonies fail due to indigestion?

[1] " rel="url2html-27167">http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01598/full

[2] " rel="url2html-27167">http://gizmodo.com/alarming-study-indicates-why-certain-bacteria-are-more-1805666249


Original Submission