I was always under the impression that some crazy killer microorganism was going to be released from the abyss of the sea while humans dug into the inhospitable ocean depths for oil and mineral deposits. But who would have thought that our mere excursions into space might actually be responsible for creating some deadly pandemic to the Earth? From The New York Times:
The germ: Salmonella, best known as a culprit of food poisoning. The trip: Space Shuttle STS-115, September 2006. The reason: Scientists wanted to see how space travel affects germs, so they took some along -- carefully wrapped -- for the ride. The result: Mice fed the space germs were three times more likely to get sick and died quicker than others fed identical germs that had remained behind on Earth.Apparently, 167 genes in the "space" Salmonella had mutated, possibly in response to their microgravity environment.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
2 comments:
A couple of thoughts after reading this. First, did the mutation last when brought back to earth? Second, do we know if they had it all properly isolated? If they didn't and the mutation stuck then we should be very afraid.
Who knows? Maybe SARS or avian flu is really a result of some chicken they took up into space. I sense a CONSPIRACY! ;-)
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