Not only astronauts cavorting on the ISS. Also bacteria and fungi on the International space station home. What exactly is there on our Outpost lives, researchers have now analyzed.
On the ISS activity. Since the year 2000, the International space station orbits the earth and is inhabited since then permanently. More than 200 people were already on Board, and far less documented a wide variety of microbes, such as bacteria and fungi. A Team of Checinska Sielaff, of Washington State University has examined a total of 24 samples were taken within a period of 14 months from three different ISS crews. Eight places as dining table, sleeping cabin, toilet, walls, and Windows were taken into account.
Have published their results, the researchers in the journal “Microbiome”.
The ISS is an Outpost for bacteria and fungi?
Accordingly, the number and composition of the found fungi remained stable, with the bacteria changing, however, as a result of the different astronauts on Board the ISS. The most commonly occurring microbes, staphylococci (26%) and Enterobacteriaceae (23 percent). A further eleven percent belong to the group Bacillus.
Harmless or dangerous?
Whether the detected microorganisms of the ISS crew can be dangerous, still needed to be investigated, so Sielaff. Among other things, the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, it was found that usually harmless on human skin and mucous membrane is living, but also dangerous infections can cause. In addition, bacteria of the group of Enterobacter were detected, the occurrence in the human intestine and cause disease.
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Fungal infection: when the mold bodies affects
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Fungal infection: when the mold bodies affects
On earth such bacteria were often in gyms, offices and hospitals, said Sielaff. “Whether these bacteria can make the astronauts sick, we do not know. It depends on several factors – the health condition of each individual astronauts, and of how these organisms in space.”
Also the possible impact on the ISS are still unclear. Some of the detected microorganisms contribute for example to the earth for decomposition of materials, said co-author Camilla Urbaniak. Researchers to Nitin Singh from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, had been demonstrated on the space station in a previous analysis of bacteria strains that are resistant to several antibiotics.
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Further investigation
The samples were taken in 2015, especially from an ISS toilet, but also from the Fitness area. The Team reported that some of the conditions in space such as weightlessness can contribute to the emergence of drug resistance. Also in this study, the specific hazard potential of the detected pathogens remained unclear.
Further research is necessary to the health of the astronauts and the function ability of the ISS to ensure durable, said Kasthuri Venkateswaran of the US space Agency, NASA, co-author of the current analysis. “In view of possible future long-term missions, it is important to identify the types of microorganisms that can accumulate in the unusual, closed space environments.”
hf/af (dpa)
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