Bacteria in Space Station adapt to live, not to cause disease – study

A STUDY by Northwestern University (NU) has found that harsh conditions in the International Space Station (ISS) are not causing bacteria to mutate into dangerous, antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Instead, the bacteria are simply responding, and perhaps evolving, to survive in a stressful environment.

The US National Center for Biotechnology Information maintains a publicly available database containing the genomic analyses of many of bacteria isolated from the ISS.

Researchers at NU, in Evanston, Illinois, used this data to compare the strains of Staphylococcus aureus (Sa) and Bacillus cereus (Bc) on the ISS to those on Earth. Found on human skin, Sa contains the tough-to-treat MRSA strain, while Bc lives in soil and has fewer implications for human health.

To adapt to living on surfaces, the bacteria containing advantageous genes are selected for or they mutate. For those living in the ISS, these genes potentially helped the bacteria respond to stress, so they could eat, grow and function in a harsh environment.

“Based on genomic analysis, it looks like bacteria are adapting to live, not evolving to cause disease,” said Ryan Blaustein, a postdoctoral fellow and the study’s first author.

“We didn’t see anything special about antibiotic resistance or virulence in the space station’s bacteria.” This is good news for astronauts and potential space tourists, but the researchers also point out that unhealthy people can still spread illness on space stations and space shuttles.