What Happens to Infectious Diseases in Space?
Learn about what happens to infectious diseases in space.
Salmonella bacteria exposed to microgravity during space travel gains a higher potential for causing disease than when it is grown on Earth.
Researchers brought a culture of salmonella up into space and found that it was three to seven times more likely to cause disease than cultures grown on Earth.
The microgravity environment in space makes the bacteria act like it is in a human stomach.
Cheryl Nickerson, a microbiologist from Arizona State University and author of the study said: “There are conditions that are encountered by pathogens during the infection process in the human body that are relevant to conditions that these same organisms experience when cultured in spaceflight. By studying the effect of spaceflight on the disease-causing potential of major pathogens like Salmonella, we may be able to provide insight into infectious disease mechanisms…”
Nickerson now has plans to bring salmonella into space again and infect a nematode with the bacteria.
Her experiment will be the first occurrence of a living organism being intentionally infected with a disease causing pathogen in microgravity.
The salmonella bacteria causes food poisoning in around 40 thousand people annually in the United States.
Salmonella bacteria exposed to microgravity during space travel gains a higher potential for causing disease than when it is grown on Earth.
Researchers brought a culture of salmonella up into space and found that it was three to seven times more likely to cause disease than cultures grown on Earth.
The microgravity environment in space makes the bacteria act like it is in a human stomach.
Cheryl Nickerson, a microbiologist from Arizona State University and author of the study said: “There are conditions that are encountered by pathogens during the infection process in the human body that are relevant to conditions that these same organisms experience when cultured in spaceflight. By studying the effect of spaceflight on the disease-causing potential of major pathogens like Salmonella, we may be able to provide insight into infectious disease mechanisms…”
Nickerson now has plans to bring salmonella into space again and infect a nematode with the bacteria.
Her experiment will be the first occurrence of a living organism being intentionally infected with a disease causing pathogen in microgravity.
The salmonella bacteria causes food poisoning in around 40 thousand people annually in the United States.
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