![]() Microgravity and the restrictions on size and chemicals that can be safely used in the enclosed environment of the space station add to the challenge of designing a DNA experiment for space. ![]() The key is finding a way to do complex microbial ecology surveys in space. The quicker we can identify unknown microbes on the International Space Station, the more prepared the crew will be to respond. Sending samples from the orbiting lab back to Earth is complicated and adds significant time between the initial sampling and identifying the microbes present. For example, a series of NASA microbial tracking experiments and the 3D Microbial Monitoring study had to rely on astronauts collecting hundreds of samples by wiping down selected surfaces with swabs, packing the samples in plastic bags, and sending them back to Earth for identification with DNA sequencing facilities. The equipment required for DNA sequencing has historically been expensive and time intensive and has required specialized expertise to operate, limiting its use in space. However, taking the census can be complex. “The demographics data collected can be used years down the road for planning decisions about how we coexist with microbes in spacecraft.” “It is kind of like taking a census,” said David J. Smith, acting chief of the Space Biosciences Division at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Identifying the order of the bases using the process of DNA sequencing clues researchers in to the identity of the organisms and how they might behave.Īs the studies continue taking measurements, the data can expose patterns that exist in microbial composition on the space station. DNA is made up of four base molecules that link together to encode instructions for cell growth and behavior. Known, worrisome bacteria can be identified by their unique biological blueprint, contained within molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). “We are looking at what is in the air, on surfaces, and in the water that the crew is surrounded by all day, every day.” “The goal is to enable near-real-time microbial diagnostics of the space station environment,” said Sarah Wallace, a microbiologist in the Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. It is therefore important to understand what types of space-residing microbes are present in the environment and whether they can become impervious to sanitation techniques. Many microbes can be stressed by the conditions of space, and some respond with genes encoding resistance to antimicrobial agents. This work is also forming a new area of scientific research. These studies also benefit humans on Earth by providing a better understanding of how microbes behave in a sanitized, isolated, and confined environment. That is why scientists use the International Space Station as a testing ground to study how to keep astronauts safe and healthy on long-duration missions. While people literally could not live without these tiny organisms, many of which are benign or beneficial, there is still a possibility that the assortment of microbial hitchhikers could include disease-causing pathogens that might make the crew sick. Microbial hitchhikers still have the capability to catch a ride to space, with either the cargo or the crew. However, our control over spacecraft and the items aboard is not total, especially at the microscopic level. Anything launched to space is meticulously tested, monitored, and often sanitized.
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