While it’s still questionable whether or not humans could really thrive in space, we now know that even if our own bodies are doomed to become weak and decrepit any bacteria we tote along has every chance of living a full, happy life. Because, according to new research, space might be exactly what bacteria needs to become a thicker, stronger, superpowered mutant version unlike anything we’ve ever seen on Earth.
More specifically, the two astronaut crews involved in the study were growing colonies of biofilms — some of which are strongly associated with disease. And what they found proved to be a bit unsettling, depending on how you feel about giant, nearly unmanageable colonies of bacteria. According to NASA:
The space-grown communities of bacteria, called biofilms, formed a ‘column-and-canopy’ structure not previously observed on Earth. Biofilms grown during spaceflight had a greater number of live cells, more biomass, and were thicker than control biofilms grown under normal gravity conditions.
And the biofilm they used (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) was lovingly cultivated in artificial urine for three days aboard two different shuttle missions — meaning that these results are coming from the very same environment that humans on longterm space flights would likely face. With the problem of managing waste and water recycling on these flights, bacteria would have even more time to multiply, so what we’re seeing in this study could really just be a fraction of a possible gargantuan bacteria biosystem.
Of course, this applies strictly to zero-gravity spaceflight, and conditions for human colonies on other planets — oh, say Mars, for instance — could mean stunting the prolific biofilm in much the same way our atmosphere does here on Earth. But the research has practical applications too. NASA notes:
Examining the effects of spaceflight on biofilm formation can provide new insights into how different factors, such as gravity, fluid dynamics, and nutrient availability affect biofilm formation on Earth. Additionally, the research findings could one day help inform new, innovative approaches for curbing the spread of infections in hospitals.
Even if it turns out that it’s just as easy to keep bacteria in check on other planets, our attempts to understand its growth could do worlds of good to curb bacteria growth here on Earth, which is still a very real problem. So for now, let’s just be glad that the only bacteria we have to grapple with is, in fact, of the non-crazy-mutant persuasion. [NASA via PopSci]
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