How Microbes Survive Clean Rooms and Contaminate Spacecraft

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Rakesh Mogul, a Cal Poly Pomona professor of biological chemistry, was the lead author of an article in the journal Astrobiology that offers the first biochemical evidence explaining the reason the contamination persists. To figure out how the spacecraft microbiome survives in the cleanroom facilities, the research team analyzed several Acinetobacter strains that were originally isolated from the Mars Odyssey and Phoenix spacecraft facilities. They found that under very nutrient-restricted conditions, most of the tested strains grew on and biodegraded the cleaning agents used during spacecraft assembly. The work showed that cultures grew on ethyl alcohol as a sole carbon source while displaying reasonable tolerances towards oxidative stress. This is important since oxidative stress is associated with desiccating and high radiation environments similar to Mars. The tested strains were also able to biodegrade isopropyl alcohol and Kleenol 30, two other cleaning agents commonly used, with these products potentially serving as energy sources for the microbiome.

So IOW

[nospam007]

alcoholic hand sanitizer is breakfast for them.

Re:So IOW

[bill_mcgonigle]

I had a college roommate who survived on ethanol as his sole carbon source too, but frankly we're going to terraform all these places anyway, so unless the xenobiologists can get there first, it might be smarter to just send the crafts as-is (maybe with my old roommate) and decrease the odds of an extinction-level event wiping out life on this planet.

Re:

[sysrammer]

Well, I guess it is just going to show that; size doesn't matter, the same principle can still prevail both in the microscopic and macroscopic worlds.

"It's not how long you make it, it's how you make it long" g. carlin

Re:

[mentil]

According to Soviet panspermists, Mars terraforms YOU!

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I once observed pseudomonas aeruginosa survive under 95% ethanol for over a week.

Re:

[currently_awake]

So nature finds a way. The overuse of anti-bacterial cleaners has bred a line of immune microbes.

Re:

[wyHunter]

yeah we're creating our own version of The Andromeda Strain.

They were out of lemon Pledge

[jfdavis668]

Consuela was out of lemon Pledge, so me no work.

Re:

[sysrammer]

no...

So

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

According to one science fiction story, we all evolved from bacteria from a space dog dump let out by a stopping saucer.

So don't be too worried about it, indeed don't pooh pooh the idea.