But we aren't talking about a vacuum, we're talking about the atmosphere.
Large volumes of air from the stratosphere at heights ranging from 20 to 41km were collected on 21 January 2001.
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Dr Wainwright isolated a fungus and two bacteria from one of the space derived samples collected at 41km. The presence of bacteria in these samples was then independently confirmed. These results are published in this month's issue of a prestigious microbiology journal FEMS Letters (Wainwright et al, 2002), published by Elsevier. The isolated organisms are very similar to known terrestrial varieties. There are however notable differences in their detailed properties, possibly pointing to a different origin. Furthermore, it should be stressed that these microorganisms are not common laboratory contaminants.
Notice how they collected air from "space?"
Makes sense to me that stratospheric germs would be different. That doesn't make them extraterrestrial.
The folks behind the research are pushing panspermia theory, and much of this article here is propaganda.
