Space: A bad influence on microbes?

Posted by tourdemars to Life on Mars at December 1, 2003 12:00 PM

Life is a bit different in space, even for microbes. Research shows that the pattern of gene activity in some microbes differs in weightlessness, leading to differences in behavior. These differences could be behind a curious observation: the common food-borne pathogen salmonella becomes more virulent when grown in a form of simulated microgravity.