Attack of the Mutant Ninja Alien Germs

S.A.M.

S.A.M.

uniquely dreadful
Valued Senior Member
Germs go into space on a rocket and come back stronger and deadlier than ever.


[Cheryl Nickerson, an associate professor at the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University] reports the results of the salmonella study in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers placed identical strains of salmonella in containers and sent one into space aboard the shuttle, while the second was kept on Earth, under similar temperature conditions to the one in space.

After the shuttle returned, mice were given varying oral doses of the salmonella and then were watched. After 25 days, 40% of the mice given the Earth-bound salmonella were still alive, compared with just 10% of those dosed with the germs from space. And the researchers found it took about one-third as much of the space germs to kill half the mice, compared with the germs that had been on Earth. The researchers found 167 genes had changed in the salmonella that went to space.

Why? "That's the 64 million dollar question," Nickerson said.



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...d_germs_gets_deadlier/articleshow/2403008.cms
 
S.A.M. said:
Why? "That's the 64 million dollar question," Nickerson said.
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Pah. 's like a sci-fi blockbuster with the last five minutes missing. :mad:

So what's happening here, sam? Why have they come back from their trip in such bad moods, all beefed up on steroids? Also, will we ever colonise Mars, in the light of these shocking new developments?

I need answers, dammit, and I need them now. :mad:
 
I dunno.

But inspite of replicating the temperature conditions, they miss out on stuff like gravity, which has measurable effects in people, for example (losing bone mass, losing muscle tone, from what we know so far).

Space sickness may not be limited to the peoples.

OTOH, we don't know what exactly is out there (The Truth!!!!!! says Mulder).

Mebbe we should send some mild mannered 80 pound weaklings and see what happens.
 
Perhaps cosmic rays or other types of particles are bombarding them up there more so than on Earth which could cause them to alter.
 
rapid evolution due to a large change in the environment. the immune system encounters something unlike it has encountered before. More mice die.

please donate the 64 million to my account.
 
Look. Sceantists make things better. That's what we do. The salmonella is a better salmonella than when it went up. That's an improvement! No need to thank us, world. And hey: we learned something. Cosmic rays mutate the fuck out of germs. Now that we know that, there's no need to have any more space flights. We just saved you all a ton of money.

Another win for biology.
 
But we knew that before we went up. Cosmic rays and other particles DO affect genes, germs and other living organisms. We learned that when we sent up living stuff in the 80's.

AP
Published: May 16, 1982
Anatoly Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev activated systems aboard the new orbiting Soviet space station Salyut-7 today, the official Soviet press agency, Tass, reported. The report said the astronauts adjusted the life support, power, temperatureregulating and radio communication systems. They were sent into space Thursday and the next day became the first astronauts to board the space laboratory, which was sent up last month.
 
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Its God's biological leash to make us stay put. Ban all space research! Its against God's will! :mad:
 
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