Posted on 08/26/2020 9:35:01 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Deinococcus radiodurans is an extremophile microbe capable of surviving freezing cold temperatures, ionizing radiation, ultraviolet light, and dehydration. And as new research published today in Frontiers in Microbiology shows, this bacterium can also survive the harsh conditions of outer space.
Dried out samples of Deinococcus were brought back to life after spending over three years on a panel outside the International Space Station.
Back in 2008, Yamagishi and his colleagues used aircraft and balloons to detect and document microbes floating in the upper atmosphere. Naturally, samples of Deinococcus radiodurans—a microbe Guinness World Records lists as the most radiation-resistant lifeform—were found at altitudes reaching 7.5 miles (12 km) above the Earth’s surface....Yamagishi sought to learn how it might fare in the harsh environment of space.
The team’s experimental design involved the samples being exposed to space for one-, two-, and three-year durations while resting on an exposure experiment module outside the International Space Station.
This allowed the researchers to develop a survival curve and to estimate the survival abilities of the bacteria over a longer period of time, explained Yamagishi in an email. Bacterial aggregates of varying thickness were exposed to space. The experiment, performed from 2015 to 2018, was done atop Kibo, the Japanese Experimental Module on the ISS.
Results showed that all clumps thicker than 0.5 millimeters partially survived the three-year exposure to space. Bacteria located along the outer surfaces of the aggregates were killed, but this created a kind of protective crust for the dehydrated microbes underneath, according to the research.
When asked how Deinococcus radiodurans is able to survive such harsh conditions, Yamagishi said it’s because “they have multiple copies of genomes and a heightened ability to repair damage done to DNA,” which they did once they were rehydrated.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
LOL
We should bring back Mars bugs because at least it might give reason as to the stupid lockdowns and masks people are being forced to wear.
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