Having suffered Salmonella poisoning before, I can definitively say it is not fun. And that’s why I’m pleased to hear that research on Salmonella and MSRA vaccines have been helped along by the now-defunct NASA Space Shuttle program.
According to ZDnet, putting these bacteria specimens in a zero gravity environment allows the bacteria to grow faster and more infectious.
Biotech firms like Astrogenetix have discovered that removing gravity from the equation of bacterial growth makes space an advantageous study environment. Astrogenix has taken salmonella and MRSA into space a dozen times over the last three years. This let’s them grow bacteria at warp speed, and extract DNA, so they can learn more about, and make a vaccine for, these nasty microorganisms.
Furthermore, by studying how the bacteria grows differently in space (compared to Earth), they can identify the genes which are responsible for growing and spreading, and then use that information to work on an vaccine.
It’s good to know that tangible things come out of space travel, ya know? [ZDnet]