New Bacteria Have Been Discovered on a Chinese Space Station (wired.com)
- Reference: 0177680685
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/05/21/216255/new-bacteria-have-been-discovered-on-a-chinese-space-station
- Source link: https://www.wired.com/story/bacteria-unknown-on-earth-appears-on-chinese-space-station/
> According to China Central Television, the country's national broadcaster, taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) collected swab samples from the space station in May 2023, which were then frozen and sent back to Earth for study. The aim of this work was to investigate the behavior of microorganisms, gathered from a completely sealed environment with a human crew, during space travel, as part of the China Space Station Habitation Area Microbiome Program (CHAMP). A paper [2]published in the Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology describes how analysis of samples from the space station revealed this previously unseen bacterial species, which belongs to the genus Niallia. Genomic sequencing showed that its closest terrestrial relative is the bacterium Niallia circulans, although the Tiangong species has substantial genetic differences. [...]
>
> It is unclear whether the newly discovered microbe evolved on the space station or whether it is part of the vast sea of as yet unidentified microorganisms on Earth. To date, tens of thousands of bacterial species have been cataloged, although there are [3]estimated to be billions more unclassified species on Earth. The discovery of Niallia tiangongensis will provide a better understanding of the microscopic hazards that the next generation of space travelers will face and help design sanitation protocols for extended missions. It is still too early to determine whether the space bacterium poses any danger to taikonauts aboard Tiangong, although it is known that its terrestrial relative, Niallia circulans, can cause sepsis, especially in immunocompromised people.
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/bacteria-unknown-on-earth-appears-on-chinese-space-station/
[2] https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.006693
[3] https://theconversation.com/how-we-used-ai-to-trace-the-evolution-of-bacteria-on-earth-253720
What are the odds? (Score:4, Interesting)
"The Earth contains an estimated one trillion species of microbes — with [1]99.999% of them remaining undiscovered". [nsf.gov]
Here it is.
[1] https://www.nsf.gov/news/seven-degrees-one-trillion-species-microbes
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, don't tell me what the record is.
Re: (Score:2)
Quite.
We know almost nothing about the human gut biome for a start, and every time we go poking in there we find another organism that we didn't know about before.
Not to mention just basic dirt... there are millions of unknown organisms in any handful of back-yard dirt.
Now launch something into space with half a dozen humans on it, have it exposed to the open air for days, after trundling across a large landscape to get to its launch position and it doesn't matter HOW sterile your build facility or how dead
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah no shit, you can do it at home, just put anything under a microscope and it's plausible there's an unrecorded microbe there. Just /. posting another lazy piece of propaganda, can't even wait for the stuff that takes some effort.
Re: (Score:3)
> you can do it at home
Good luck, at home, identifying if the thing is among the 10M known microbes or not.
Re: (Score:2)
identifying if the thing is among the 10M known microbes or not.
If only we humans had some type of computer technology that could save a catalog of the known ones with pictures.
Then you could take a picture of those things you found and ask an AI to compare the new pictures against the catalog.
Re: (Score:2)
Culturing a novel species is still exciting. While we can find new ones with PCR every where you look, relatively few are easily characterized via culturing swabs, and are the sorts that might have practical applications. The difference between identifying a new plant species with esoteric requirements and being able to grow a novel one in a pot.
Re: (Score:2)
> "The Earth contains an estimated one trillion species of microbes — with [1]99.999% of them remaining undiscovered". [nsf.gov]
Never tell me the odds.
[1] https://www.nsf.gov/news/seven-degrees-one-trillion-species-microbes
Re: (Score:1)
No, but we can infer from statistics.
Not taikonauts (Score:2)
Summary: " taikonauts (Chinese astronauts)"
The Chinese space agency calls them astronauts, so should we.
Oh dear (Score:2, Flamebait)
SHUT. DOWN. EVERYTHING.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, yeah.. Now we just need a new version of Pandemic the video game to add the orbital space stations, as well as the Moon and Martian colonies to the game board.
Cockpits (Score:1)
I’ve heard cock pits harbour all sorts of bacteria.
That is disgusting! (Score:1)
Someone did not wash his hands?
Wildfire Protocol (Score:2)
[1]I've seen this movie and it didn't work out so well... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain
Quick! (Score:1)
Someone call Bruce Springsteen! He'll surely know what to do.
Life ! (Score:2)
So is this officially the first new life found in space ?
Here we go, again (Score:2)
Improved with "Project Scoop!"
Ya know it's coming (Score:2)
Insert raw-bat-eater jokes here.
Re: (Score:3)
Why did the raw-bat-eater get invited to the bacteria party?
Because he really knew how to break the cell wall and start a culture!