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Germs Taken Into Space May Come Back Deadlier

Posted by Zonk on from the just-what-we-need-down-here dept.

westlake writes "Sounds like the plot for a B-movie, doesn't it? Germs go into space and come back stronger and deadlier than ever. Except, it really happened. In a medical experiment, salmonella carried about the space shuttle in the fall of 2006 proved far more lethal to lab mice than their earth-bound source. 90% dead vs. 60% dead in twenty-six days, with half the mice dying at 1/3 the oral dose. Apparently 167 genes in the space-evolved strain had changed. The likely cause: In microgravity the force of fluids passing over the cells is low, similar to conditions in the gastrointestinal tract, and the cells adapted quickly to the new environment."

4 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I know... by BiloxiGeek · · Score: 2, Informative

    Try http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051418/ 1958

    --
    Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, For you are crunchy and go well with ketchup.
  2. Yeah, but no. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 3, Informative

    The first confirmed case was from a 1959 sample of blood plasma. Maybe you can blame Sputnik somehow?

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  3. Re:I know... by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'll raise you: 1953

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  4. How carefully did *you* read it? by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm not talking about David Carr; I'm talking about the listing under "unidentified Kinshasa man". Look again.

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca