NASA faces a complex scenario after recognizing that a Highly resistant bacteria may have survived strict sterilization processes and traveled to space aboard recent ships.
The microorganism has the impressive ability to remain dormant for years and “wake up” When it recovers suitable conditions, this becomes a global debate about the risk of contaminating other planets and altering the ecosystems of extraterrestrial life.
Some microorganisms have such an advanced survival strategy that they can remain completely hidden even when they come into contact with nutrients.
“She’s not dead. She played dead,” says Madhan Tirumalai, a microbiologist at the University of Houston and one of the authors of the study.
This dormant state allows them to “turn off” their biological activity, avoiding any detectable sign of life. According to William Widger, a biologist and biochemist at the University of Houston, when scientists take samples and place them in culture plates, no growth occurs, which creates the false impression that there is no microbial presence. However, these bacteria remain there, alive but inactive, waiting for the conditions. suitable for reactivation.
A bacteria that defies space protocols
The bacteria, known as Tersicoccus Phoenician was found in the assembly rooms where spaceships are prepared, it is important to keep in mind that These places are designed to be practically sterile, with filtered air, powerful chemicals and special suits that prevent any human contamination, but This microorganism managed to remain hidden for years, avoiding all detection procedures.
“There is still a diverse microbiome, even in clean rooms and on spacecraft,” says Nils Averesch, a space biologist at the University of Florida.
According to studies from the University of Houston, This bacteria has the ability to reduce its metabolic activity almost to zero, simulating being dead, This happens due to a protein called Rpf, which can reactivate when the environment allows it, giving it a unique advantage to survive in extreme conditions, including what would be space travel.
The future of upcoming missions could be affected
The discovery raises concern among scientists, since The introduction of terrestrial microbes to other planets can change ecosystems still unknown or even interfere with research aimed at finding extraterrestrial life.
Cross-contamination can put scientific results at risk, as well as generate new hybrid life forms or unpredictable biological reactions.
This discovery made NASA rethink its strategy at the time of sterilization; the agency is already implementing new techniques to detect bacteria in a dormant state before launching future missions considered candidates to host microbial life.
