Index – Tech-Science – Dangerous mutants overwhelm the International Space Station

A bacterium of terrestrial origin, but also in terms of its genetic structure and function, was discovered on the International Space Station. The species is an extraterrestrial descendant of the notoriously antibiotic-resistant Enterobacter bugadnensis.

About the bacterium, a colleague of the NASA JPL laboratory, dr. Kashturi Venkateswaran provided a scientific description supported by an Ames Space Biology Fellowship. According to Dr. Venkateswaran’s findings, the bacterium has adapted to the unique conditions of the space station, i.e. microgravity, strong background radiation and higher carbon dioxide content in the air.

The situation on the International Space Station is not so much science-fiction as it is disgusting – in addition to the threat posed by space debris, micrometeorites and technical problems, life here is mostly defined by noise and stench. The astronauts who live here, sometimes half a dozen, live for months on end with the waste they produce and the end products of their metabolism.

Staying in space is a serious stress for the human body, and in such cases it is by no means lucky to meet kneaded superbacteria.

Fugitives in space

Enterobacter bugandensis is a bacterium from the human digestive system that was discovered in 2018 and is a pathogen that threatens newborns and causes serious illness. According to the study, the space version has become more resistant to antimicrobial interventions than its predecessor, and can now be classified in the so-called ESKAPE group, where it is resistant to antibiotics that cause hospital infections

E. bugandensis became resistant in such a way that the walls of the International Space Station, from which they were collected, cannot be compared to any known hospital surface. The research concluded that the bacteria could sometimes help other organisms survive in the closed environment – ​​this means a gene transfer that can make bacteria from other species resistant.

Examination of the microbes from the space station revealed more genes in each case than in their terrestrial versions. Their function supported various adaptive processes in the transport of amino acids, gene transcription and metabolism.

The specialists warned that in order to ensure the safety of the astronauts, it would be important in the future to monitor the microorganisms living in the isolated space of spaceships, forming a separate association and developing differently.

The International Space Station has been orbiting the Earth for 25 years. The 109-meter-long, 73-meter-wide station weighs 450 tons, and the 16 modules that make up its structure form an interior space of about 1,000 cubic meters. So far, 279 astronauts from 22 countries have been on board.

The technical life of the station is coming to an end, and its prospects are not favored by the increased tension in international politics due to the war in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly suggested that it withdraws from maintaining the space station. According to the currently known ideas of the United States, the dismantling of the space station would begin in 2030, so that some of its parts would fall into the atmosphere as planned, while certain modules would continue to be used as part of future space stations.

(NASA, Phys.org)

(Cover image: The International Space Station from aboard the space shuttle Atlantis in May 2010. Photo: Wikipedia / NASA)

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