Shocking! A new threat spotted at the International Space Station (ISS) for Indian astronaut Sunita Williams and his eight crew members. It was a space bug found lurking at the space station.
According to scientists, it’s a multi-drug-resistant bacteria that evolved and became stronger in the ISS’s environment. This bug is called ‘Enterobacter bugandesis.’ The bacteria is also called a superbug because it is multi-drug-resistant and affects the respiratory system.
Ms Williams and her colleague Astronaut Barry Eugene Butch Wilmore went to the ISS on board the Boeing Starliner Spacecraft on 6 June 2024 to test the spacecraft. They are expected to spend a week at the ISS before returning to the earth. The seven other crew members have been putting up in the ISS for a longer time.
Space bugs are not extraterrestrial life but insects that have travelled as hidden co-passengers when astronauts went to work at the ISS. Generally, space debris and micrometeorites are the concerns at the ISS. However, the bugs that travelled to the ISS have evolved over time, emerging as a new worry.
Recently, while writing about superbugs, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) said that they have studied the strains of the bacterial species E. bugandesis isolated from ISS. Also, 13 multi-drug resistant strains of E. bugandesis were isolated from the ISS.
Studies show that ISS-isolated strains mutated and became genetically and functionally stronger than their Earth counterparts. They also show that strains survived in the distinct environment of the ISS. E bugandesis co-existed with other microorganisms and could have helped them, too, to survive.
