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State-of-the-art molecular analysis of dust samples from the International Space Station (ISS) has been employed to reveal new information about some of the potential bacterial agents present in the astronauts’ space environment. The research reported presence of the opportunistic bacterial pathogens that are mostly innocuous on Earth but can lead to infections that result in inflammations or skin irritations.
The ISS is a unique built environment, experiencing microgravity, space radiation and elevated carbon dioxide, and constant presence of humans. Understanding the nature of the communities of microbes — the microbiome — in the ISS is key to managing astronaut health and maintenance of ISS equipment.
Traditional microbiology techniques, which culture bacteria and fungi in the lab, have previously been used to assess the composition of this community. Now scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have used the latest DNA sequencing technologies to rapidly and precisely identify the microorganisms present on the ISS, filling in the gaps left by traditional methods, and highlighting pathogens that may pose a threat to astronauts.
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The team collected air filter samples and vacuum bag dust from the ISS. They then compared these samples with dust from NASA ‘cleanrooms’, environmentally controlled and closed built spaces on Earth. Their results show that Actinobacteria, a type of bacteria associated with human skin, made up a larger proportion of the microbial community in the ISS than in the cleanrooms, which the authors conclude could be due to the more stringent cleaning regimes possible on Earth.
Read full, original post: What’s In The Microbiome Of Space?
