The Benefits of Space Science
Spaceflight Now is reporting today about an important achievement in pharmaceutical research conducted aboard the International Space Station. A company called Astrogenetix is working on vaccine research utilizing the microgravity of Earth orbit. Through its research with Salmonella bacteria on station, the company realized that something about microgravity made the bacteria stronger. This made it easier for them to isolate those genes that cause the “bad” effects of Salmonella poisoning. With this information, the company believes that it can grow Salmonella bacteria with those genes removed, thus making it harmless. This harmless version could then be made into a vaccine to provide immunity to that bacteria. Such a vaccine could avoid thousands of hospitalizations and save hundreds of lives annually. Astrogenetix believes they can use this same process to create vaccines for other diseases as well.
The next time somebody complains about the cost of human spaceflight and the ISS, just remind them of things like this.
