Posted on 09/25/2007 6:25:40 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It sounds like the plot for a scary B-movie: Germs go into orbit on a spaceship and come back stronger and deadlier than ever.
But it really happened.
The germ: Salmonella, best known as a culprit in food poisoning.
The trip: Space shuttle mission STS-115, September 2006.
The reason: Scientists wanted to see how space travel affects germs, so they took some along -- carefully wrapped -- for the ride.
The result: Mice that were fed the space germs were three times more likely to get sick, and died more quickly, than mice fed identical germs that had remained behind on Earth.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Ping!
Break out the Sterno!
After space:
They should have taken two sets of different kinds, ie, salmonella and e. coli for instance, to see if it had the same effect on both kinds.................
LOL!
That was my first thought as well...
The researcher mentions that the space-bound strain of salmonella was able to self-mutate most likely because of a micro-low force of culture liquid in the zero-G environemnt.
He also says that the effect on the salmonella strain was quite similar to the surrounding within a human gastrointestinal tract, which is very friendly territory for salmonella to thrive & reporduce in.
So, the whole point is, Maybe, just maybe, it is only Salmonella, as far as the article mentions, that exhibits this tendency to change itself into a higher potency bacteria strain in outer space.
My guess is that out above the Earth’s atmosphere SOME highly charged energy particles from the sun (gamma rays), get through the hull of our spacecraft and cause mutations.
Hmmm! I sense a possible defense strategy for the “astronut”, Lisa Marie Nowak: the mutated yeast infection from space made her do it...
Dr. David Banner. Physician. Scientist. Searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have. Then an accidental overdose of gamma radiation alters his body chemistry. And now, when David Banner grows angry or outraged, a startling metamorphosis occurs. The creature is driven by rage, and pursued by an investigative reporter.
LOL! There’s still plenty of space between her ears.
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Hey, I wouldn’t blame them for being in a bad mood after that ride. ;’) Thanks AAC.
Seed the heavens with germ-x.
It appears from this earlier abstract that mice are lousy at defending themselves against salmonella:
Ingestion of S. typhimurium results in a lethal, typhoid-like systemic
infection in mice that is characterized by bacterial invasion
of the distal ileum, followed by systemic dissemination and colonization
of the liver and spleen. Following extensive replication
within splenic and hepatic phagocytes, Salmonella re-enter the
bloodstream, causing infected animals to succumb to septic shock
and multiple organ failure (8). Numerous studies indicate that
within professional APCs, Salmonella occupy an altered vacuolar
compartment (9), suggesting that Salmonella have evolved strategies
to resist and overcome innate immune defenses.
“But why would the chance mutations seem to favor increased potency”
I can only guess that they created conditions in the structure of the salmonella bugs that our immune system has not encountered much before, and thus had less experience fighting.
“and why do the bacteria present in astronaut’s gut not mutate into more harmful strains when the astronaut spends time in the same zero-gravity environment”
From the report, we don’t know that they did or that they didn’t; it wasn’t covered. We can be fairly certain they did not have salmonella poisoning when they took off, or the NASA doctors would not have let them. As to the “normal” bugs we have in our gut: What is the normal recovery-time/down-time after a space flight and what are the conditions that astronauts normally seem to be recovering from, after a space flight? Are any of them related to bugs in the gut?
And everybody thinks I’m crazy for stocking up on shotguns and ammo! NASA brought up some germs for a couple of days and they became three times deadlier! Imagine what will happen when a satellite containing deadly bioweapons from the Cold War crashes into a field in rural Pennsylvania. It’ll bring back the dead!
Perhaps it is time for each person on this thread to ask themselves how prepared they are for the next zombie invasion.
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