‘A box full of viruses and bacteria has completed its return journey to the International Space Station’ reports ScienceAlert“and the changes these ‘insects’ experienced during their travels could help us Earthlings tackling resistant infections…”
Scientists aboard the space station incubated different combinations of bacteria and phages for 25 days, while the research team led by biochemist Vatsan Raman performed the same experiments in Madison, here on Earth. “Space fundamentally changes the way phages and bacteria interact: infection is slowed and both organisms evolve along a different trajectory than on Earth,” the researchers explain. In the weightlessness of space, bacteria acquired mutations in genes involved in the microbe’s stress response and nutrient management. Their surface proteins also changed. After a slow start, the phages mutated in response so they could continue to bind to their victims. The team found that certain space-specific phage mutations were especially effective at killing Earth-bound bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections (UTIs). More than 90 percent of the bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections are antibiotic resistant, making phage treatments a promising alternative.
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