Spaceflight 'makes bacteria more deadly'

Posted on Thursday, 27 September, 2007 | 9 comments

In what sounds like the plot of a fifties B movie, scientists have shown that food poisoning bugs become more deadly if they venture into space. The team that reports the find suspects that other species of bacteria are likely to respond to spaceflight in a similar way, so that the manned space programme to the Moon and Mars could be a spur for the development of more deadly bugs in some circumstances, though it would not make them more antibiotic resistant, as is seen in so called superbugs.

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Source: Telegraph

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Recent comments on this story

#5 Posted by Darkwind on 27 September, 2007, 9:23
We spend a lot more money on figuring out ways of killing people in war than we do on the space program. Changing bacteria doesn't always mean they will be worse, some bacteria are beneficial to man like the ones in your gut. Lets take some yeast and yogurt up there and check that out. Maybe ...

#6 Posted by brothers on 27 September, 2007, 15:13
Maybe cancer fighting material might just get stronger as well. Think of all the other medicine that JUST might get stronger in space and this way we man manufacture them there and bring them back home to help people. I know that you can do the reverse as well but we have to think that some good has...

#7 Posted by AntoniCanada on 27 September, 2007, 17:29
What if you hAd herpies does ity get worse?

#8 Posted by Lt_Ripley on 27 September, 2007, 20:16
exactly. the space age has brought advances to our medical establishments. as well as future ones -http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/te...e_020313-1.html

#9 Posted by Claizen on 27 September, 2007, 21:45
I can imagine that the microbes are getting stronger because they're protected from the UV rays inside the spaceshuttle, also there's probably an insignificant amount of oxygen in the shuttle to kill or harm most bacteria.Teh z0mb13 \/1ru$ 1n t3h $p4c3 OMG!!!

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