New Bacteria Have Been Discovered on a Chinese Space Station (wired.com) 21
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown bacterium aboard China's Tiangong space station. "It has been named Niallia tiangongensis, and it inhabited the cockpit controls on the station, living in microgravity conditions," reports Wired. From the report: 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 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 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.
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 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.
Ya know it's coming (Score:1)
Insert raw-bat-eater jokes here.
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Because he really knew how to break the cell wall and start a culture!
What are the odds? (Score:3)
Here it is.
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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
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you can do it at home
Good luck, at home, identifying if the thing is among the 10M known microbes or not.
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Not taikonauts (Score:2)
Summary: " taikonauts (Chinese astronauts)"
The Chinese space agency calls them astronauts, so should we.
Oh dear (Score:1)
SHUT. DOWN. EVERYTHING.
Cockpits (Score:1)
I’ve heard cock pits harbour all sorts of bacteria.
That is disgusting! (Score:1)
Someone did not wash his hands?