Disease carrying bacteria onboard the Endeavour.
“The opportunity to investigate and understand the effects of spaceflight on the pathogenic potential of S. pneumoniae may further the design and development of new drugs that can be used for treatment of diseases on Earth,” said Hami Teal, the experiment’s project scientist and a researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Prior to the year 2000, the recognized “S. pneumoniae” infections have been the cause of approximately 60,000 annual cases of this very hardy invasive disease. The problem is that about 40% of its cases were antibiotics. By 2002, the invasive pneumococcal disease had an increase to 37,000 cases and counting. Granted, some of the latest vaccines have decreased this number, but many feel that the bacteria could possibly become resistant to those over time.
Presently, NASA reports about 40% of the healthy human population carries the disease in the upper respiratory tract. On the STS-118 Endeavour mission to the International Space Station, the common microorganism was rocketed into space aboard the shuttle to better understand the S. Pneumoniae, which is the cause of serious infections in humankind that had reduced immune functions. Considered the most common of all bacterial pathogens, it causes diseases such as pneumonia, along with the middle ear infections and bacterial meningitis.
The experiment, called “Streptococcus pneumoniae Expression of Genes in Space” (SPEGIS), is part of the STS-118 mission to investigate space environment effects on the microorganism. The bacterial cultures were loaded into vials, then placed aboard the space shuttle in SPEGIS Canister Assemblies that were specially developed by NASA. The experiment consisted of three canisters, with each one containing a sealed polypropylene vial that was inserted into an aluminum jacketwith a purpose to improve contact, and enhance their thermal transfer, according to NASA.
Remaining unopened on the mission in triple contained canisters, the SPEGIS canisters were transferred from refrigeration to incubation, and then to a freezer for preservation of the samples while onboard. Now that the samples have been returned with Endeavour’s re-entry to Earth, they will be analyzed by scientists.
“We expect the SPEGIS experiment will provide important new information about how microbes adapt to microgravity and the spacecraft environment. These results will lead to a better understanding of these organisms on a molecular level and how their ability to interact with humans may be altered,” said David W. Niesel, the project’s principal investigator and professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX (NASA, August 22, 2007).
