SpaceX has just launched pathogenic bacteria to the International Space Station!
It may help us address antibiotic resistance and the spread of infectious diseases on Earth.
August 1, US "Space News" published an article.
This is a static photo taken shortly after the first stage separation during the Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Figure 1
This launch had a secret additional member: pathogenic bacteria.
These bacteria will soon grow in the orbital laboratory.
Scientists at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel have collaborated with the US space technology company SpaceTango to study how microgravity affects the growth of certain bacterial species that cause human diseases.
To achieve this goal, researchers will culture different strains of bacteria in microgravity, freeze these bacteria to -80 degrees Celsius, and then return the samples to Earth to observe how they differ from the same bacteria grown on Earth.
The bacterial strains involved are Escherichia coli, Bongori Salmonella, and Salmonella Typhimurium.
Scientists have studied how the absence of gravity affects bacterial growth, and NASA's research is already underway to study bacteria in space.
The researchers behind the current International Space Station and bacterial mission particularly hope to bring back data that can help curb the spread of infectious diseases, or at least help experts find ways to prevent bacteria from developing antibiotic resistance—a major public health issue.
"This experiment will enable us, for the first time, to systematically and at the molecular level understand how the genetic expression profiles of several pathogenic bacteria change in space."
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839293973335176/
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