Microbial Pathogenicity in Space

Abstract

After a less dynamic period, space exploration is now booming. There has been a sharp increase in the number of current missions and also of those being planned for the near future. Microorganisms will be an inevitable component of these missions, mostly because they hitchhike, either attached to space technology, like spaceships or spacesuits, to organic matter and even to us (human microbiome), or to other life forms we carry on our missions. Basically, we never travel alone. Therefore, we need to have a clear understanding of how dangerous our “travel buddies” can be; given that, during space missions, our access to medical assistance and medical drugs will be very limited. Do we explore space together with pathogenic microorganisms? Do our hitchhikers adapt to the space conditions, as well as we do? Do they become pathogenic during that adaptation process? The current review intends to better clarify these questions in order to facilitate future activities in space. More technological advances are needed to guarantee the success of all missions and assure the reduction of any possible health and environmental risks for the astronauts and for the locations being explored.

Passive antifouling and active self-disinfecting antiviral surfaces

“…However, more research is required to continue the battle against SARS-CoV-2, and cooperation between governments, academia, and industries is crucial to make this happen [2] . Additional risks of the pandemic can be generated by booming space programs, with hitchhiking Earth’s viruses becoming pathogenic in space [3] or even extraterrestrial viruses infecting humans [4] .…”

Biomanufacturing in low Earth orbit for regenerative medicine

“…A LEO-based platform could be used to accelerate the timeline for biofouling characterization of biomaterials and elucidate mechanisms that may be altered in microgravity in ways that increase or decrease virulence. In fact, studies have shown that during spaceflight, some bacterial strains appear to exhibit increased virulence ( Simoes and Antunes, 2021 ).…”

Editorial: Extremophiles: Microbial genomics and taxogenomics

“…Space itself can be seen as an extreme environment, with a combination of multiple conditions and with a range of effects on microbes that are not yet fully explored. Observed changes in the characteristics of pathogens and conditional pathogens in space, namely increased pathogenicity and virulence, are a significant concern when discussing long-term crewed mission or human presence in space (Simões and Antunes, 2021 ). The impact of the space environment seems to vary between species, so the need for further studies has been stressed by several authors.…”