Test tubes
bacteria produce more antibiotics in space than on Earth. Researchers
do not know why ... but they want to know. Hear the story
help either. March 29, 2002:
bacteria get no respect. People wash their hands with antibacterial soap.
Most Popular nickname for bacteria "errors."
And by the way, do not touch that doorknob! However, bacteria are not always bad. They not only cause disease, they help treat: antibiotics
ear prescribed for your child, for example, were the most
only collects the most germs. Right: microbiologist using
microscopic study of bacteria cultured in a petri dish. Because people need antibiotics, some scientists
working hard - not to kill, but also nurture bacteria. A good place to do it, it seems, in space. Researchers first
noticed in 1968 that microbes cultured board Biosatellite
NASA II was better than it did on Earth. In this regard, there is a natural question: >> <<: If microbes grow better in space, they will produce more
antibiotics and there? Yes - under certain conditions. Experiments support Bristol-Myers Squibb
in the middle of the 1990s have shown that microbes grown in test tubes
or to gas bags on board the space shuttle carried
more antibiotics than bacteria on earth. In one case >> << improve it as much as 200%. Antibiotic production
important part of the pharmaceutical industry on Earth, so
This result drew the attention of scientists and business people
. Is it time to move antibiotic
plants in space? Not yet. Complex bio-reactors on Earth so far
give more antibiotics than simple tubes or bags do in orbit. The cost of space - for now - as a laboratory. Ongoing research supported
BioServe Space Technology, NASA Commercial Space strattera cost Center (CSC)
at the University of Colorado, industry partner Bristol-Myers Squibb
, NASA and product development programs. Their goal
simple: find out why bacteria make antibiotics more than orbit >> << and apply these findings to increase productivity on Earth. Below:
to gas bag full of space grown colonies of bacteria (right) together with concerted
reference (left). Production of antibiotics aktynomitsyn
D was 75% more than in 0-g package, which flew on Space Shuttle
mission STS-95 in 1998. Credit: Technology BioServe space. It is possible that
increase is simply due to how the microgravity
of the fluid surrounding the bacteria, says BioServe
Associate Director David Klaus, who jointly heads the study. On Earth, gravity causes fluid -
, is average - circulate. The hardest fall and liquids
light up. On Wednesday, cells and molecules >> << they produce mix and move. "But in the zero gravity environment,"
indicates Claus, "there is no convection, or buoyancy
or deposition." Less mixing is usually caused by
these factors may change the metabolic activity of these single-celled creatures.
For example, when bacteria enter
in the new environment, they begin to multiply at once. First, they must "state" itself and its environment. This is the reason that you can leave food for a while before it starts >> << deteriorate. Researchers believe that bacteria produce
vitamins, enzymes and other "cofactor" inside >> << or around the cell. The cells begin to proliferate only when enough
these substances accumulated. In microgravity, the bacteria seem able >> << to this environment and start to grow before they can
on earth - perhaps because of reduced mixing. If the center
allocates a certain type of molecules, these molecules remain
closer, and their concentration increases faster. The same >> << kinds of changes, Klaus suggests, you can expect to increase production >> << antibiotics. In fact, no one knows exactly why microbes
production of antibiotics in general. One possibility is that antibiotics
produced in response to stress. In space, says Klaus, stress
, which causes the production of antibiotics, may simply result
altered environment around the cell - as building
neighboring waste. Or, >> << overproduction may reflect some unknown change in the same cell. Future experiments at the International
Space Station (ISS) will help solve the puzzle. Engineers
BioServe developed a system known as
: some of orbital bioreactor instrumentation
and automated sampling. MOBIAS, explains Klaus, provides bacteria
about the same environment, whether they are in space or on earth
. Instead of requiring the severity mix
gases and nutrients, MOBIAS depends on diffusion. Diffusion
mixing caused by random thermal motion of molecules
happens both on Earth and in space. Above: photos. Credit: BioServe Space
technologies. To achieve its goal, MOBIAS
growing microbes in long, thin to gas bags. The liquid medium
stored in tight layers - as well as sandwich filling - so that
only diffusion and sometimes a small injection of additional fluid
cells provide nutrients and gas they need. Of course, space and terrestrial systems
is not so. In the 1-h, the cells still eventually
at the bottom of the container. But, according to Klaus, >> << difference should be minimal, as in this case the bottom is not very far from
top! And, he adds, the Earth's gravity will still pull the same
-- cells. This is good because it is one
-- because they are trying to isolate. MOBIAS planned to launch
April 4, 2002 in commercial Generic BioServe in biotech
machine (or CGBA for short). Shuttle Atlantis
will carry CGBA up and leave it behind on the ISS, where
left at least 68 days - longer than any single flight of Shuttle >>. << "One of the advantages of ISS"
Klaus said, "that the station can run these experiments
for many weeks or months." (In an earlier work, transfer of on
samples do not always have time to reach peak production for
. mission ended)
Left: Antibiotic production
is big business on the ground. Global market volume is estimated
more than $ 20 billion. Will MOBIAS in space outperform MOBIAS
on the earth? "I suspect that we will see an increase
[orbit], but we have to do a test to determine"
says Klaus. If bacteria is not overproduction, and researchers can
figure out why these factors may follow in ground facilities >>. Even a tiny increase << efficiency explains
, Claus, it would be very significant commercial: a fair assessment that each
percentage increase efficiency would save about six million dollars a year
antibiotic production costs. These prospects are paid researchers
close attention to these tiny microbes. No respect? No way. More information - the purpose of NASA Product Development (SPD), in frame
managed to Marshall Space Flight Center, is to help American businesses
explore the potential - and reap the benefits - and. SPD helps bring the benefits of space to Earth, where he
enriches the daily lives of American society. - This industrial partner working with BioServe and NASA for study
antibiotic production in space. Right: A test tube full
space grew colonies of bacteria (right) together with the agreed land
control (left). Production of antibiotics Monorden was 200% more
0-g in vitro, which flew on Space Shuttle Mission
STS-77 in 1996. [
] Porno: BIOS
technologies. - Non-profit sponsored by NASA
Commercial Space Center (CSC), located together at the University
Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, and University of Kansas
in Manhattan, Kansas (BioServe, KSU) established in October 1987. NASA Space
Product Development (SPD) program, located at Marshall Space
Flight Center, promotes commercialization of space industry for over 17 >> << of CSCS. Antibiotic reference: - In the research end of the 1960s found that
bacteria grow better in space. Join our growing list of subscribers
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