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If a creature leaves the planet, mutates into something more powerful and then comes back to Earth, can you call it an alien? Well, if they're not, they should be: in an experiment, samples of the Salmonella bacteria was brought to space and when they came back to Earth they were deadlier than ever.
The study was aimed at finding out how space travel affects germs. The experiment involved two groups of Salmonella: one on Earth and one taken on the Space Shuttle STS-115 last year.
The batch on Earth were placed under the same temperature, humidity and other conditions as the one in outer space. The only difference is that the batch in space wasn't subjected to Earth's gravity.
After the specimens from space came back to Earth, it was found that they were more potent and lethal than the ones who stayed behind. The Earth Bacteria and the Space Bacteria were both fed to mice. It was found that the ones who were fed the Space Bacteria were three times more likely to get sick or die.
Scientists believe that the Salmonella changed to become Supersalmonella because of the lack of gravity. Without it, the flow of fluids in living cells would change, and in effect the organism would have to adapt to survive. The results of the Super Salmonella experiment led to some pretty interesting conclusions and implications.
Concerns were raised about the germs and bacteria that are inside human bodies: would astronauts be safe or would they be human incubators for some sort of super alien bacteria? (No, it was found they don't have anything to worry about, at least in the short term.) The study will also help scientists understand how bacteria responds to a stressful environment. Studying this kind of behavior may help to combat diseases caused by them.
The study was aimed at finding out how space travel affects germs. The experiment involved two groups of Salmonella: one on Earth and one taken on the Space Shuttle STS-115 last year.
The batch on Earth were placed under the same temperature, humidity and other conditions as the one in outer space. The only difference is that the batch in space wasn't subjected to Earth's gravity.
After the specimens from space came back to Earth, it was found that they were more potent and lethal than the ones who stayed behind. The Earth Bacteria and the Space Bacteria were both fed to mice. It was found that the ones who were fed the Space Bacteria were three times more likely to get sick or die.
Scientists believe that the Salmonella changed to become Supersalmonella because of the lack of gravity. Without it, the flow of fluids in living cells would change, and in effect the organism would have to adapt to survive. The results of the Super Salmonella experiment led to some pretty interesting conclusions and implications.
Concerns were raised about the germs and bacteria that are inside human bodies: would astronauts be safe or would they be human incubators for some sort of super alien bacteria? (No, it was found they don't have anything to worry about, at least in the short term.) The study will also help scientists understand how bacteria responds to a stressful environment. Studying this kind of behavior may help to combat diseases caused by them.
Source: New York Times
Interesting to say the least. What do you guys think ?
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