* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Placer County town of Loomis considers entertainment zone for downtown – CBS News

    Loomis Unveils Thrilling New Entertainment Zone to Revitalize Downtown

    CT Culture Corner: Robert Redford films to watch – CT Insider

    CT Culture Corner: Robert Redford films to watch – CT Insider

    Elmira’s New Entertainment Venue ‘Centertown Social’ Adding its Final Touches – WENY News

    Elmira’s New Entertainment Venue ‘Centertown Social’ Adding its Final Touches – WENY News

    Bella Thorne Shows Off Her Toned Abs in Crop Top – Yahoo

    Bella Thorne Shows Off Her Toned Abs in a Chic Crop Top

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 Technology Stocks to Buy Now – Yahoo Finance

    3 Must-Buy Tech Stocks You Can’t Afford to Miss Right Now

    ‘New frontier’: Austin leaders start discussions on air taxi technology – KXAN Austin

    Austin Leaders Ignite Exciting Conversations on the Future of Air Taxi Technology

    How a Gemma model helped discover a new potential cancer therapy pathway – blog.google

    How a Gemma Model Revealed a Breakthrough Pathway for Cancer Treatment

    Italian Technology in Manufacturing: Supporting North American Industries and Keeping Production Local – Thomasnet

    How Italian Technology is Revolutionizing North American Manufacturing and Boosting Local Production

    Guide to Proteomics Project Planning: Sample Preparation Strategies – Technology Networks

    Guide to Proteomics Project Planning: Sample Preparation Strategies – Technology Networks

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Placer County town of Loomis considers entertainment zone for downtown – CBS News

    Loomis Unveils Thrilling New Entertainment Zone to Revitalize Downtown

    CT Culture Corner: Robert Redford films to watch – CT Insider

    CT Culture Corner: Robert Redford films to watch – CT Insider

    Elmira’s New Entertainment Venue ‘Centertown Social’ Adding its Final Touches – WENY News

    Elmira’s New Entertainment Venue ‘Centertown Social’ Adding its Final Touches – WENY News

    Bella Thorne Shows Off Her Toned Abs in Crop Top – Yahoo

    Bella Thorne Shows Off Her Toned Abs in a Chic Crop Top

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 Technology Stocks to Buy Now – Yahoo Finance

    3 Must-Buy Tech Stocks You Can’t Afford to Miss Right Now

    ‘New frontier’: Austin leaders start discussions on air taxi technology – KXAN Austin

    Austin Leaders Ignite Exciting Conversations on the Future of Air Taxi Technology

    How a Gemma model helped discover a new potential cancer therapy pathway – blog.google

    How a Gemma Model Revealed a Breakthrough Pathway for Cancer Treatment

    Italian Technology in Manufacturing: Supporting North American Industries and Keeping Production Local – Thomasnet

    How Italian Technology is Revolutionizing North American Manufacturing and Boosting Local Production

    Guide to Proteomics Project Planning: Sample Preparation Strategies – Technology Networks

    Guide to Proteomics Project Planning: Sample Preparation Strategies – Technology Networks

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Space Salad Dilemma: Study Raises Health Concerns for Astronauts

January 25, 2024
in Science
Space Salad Dilemma: Study Raises Health Concerns for Astronauts
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Space Plant

Researchers at the University of Delaware are looking at how plants grown in space are more prone to infections of Salmonella compared to plants not grown in space or grown under gravity simulations. Credit: Evan Krape/ University of Delaware

Research team finds lettuce and other plants are more susceptible to bacterial infections in space than on Earth.

Lettuce and other leafy green vegetables are part of a healthy, balanced diet — even for astronauts on a mission.

It’s been more than three years since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) made space-grown lettuce an item on the menu for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Alongside their space diet staples of flour tortillas and powdered coffee, astronauts can munch on a salad, grown from control chambers aboard the ISS that account for the ideal temperature, amount of water, and light that plants need to mature.

The Challenge of Pathogens in Space

But there is a problem. The International Space Station has a lot of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Many of these disease-causing microbes at the ISS are very aggressive and can easily colonize the tissue of lettuce and other plants. Once people eat lettuce that’s been overrun by E. coli or Salmonella, they can get sick.

With billions of dollars poured into space exploration each year by NASA and private companies like SpaceX, some researchers are concerned that a foodborne illness outbreak aboard the International Space Station could derail a mission.

In new research published in Scientific Reports and in npj Microgravity, University of Delaware researchers grew lettuce under conditions that imitated the weightless environment aboard the International Space Station. Plants are masters of sensing gravity, and they use roots to find it. The plants grown at UD were exposed to simulated microgravity by rotation. The researchers found those plants under the manufactured microgravity were actually more prone to infections from a human pathogen, Salmonella.

Stomata, the tiny pores in leaves and stems that plants use to breathe, normally close to defend a plant when it senses a stressor, like bacteria, nearby, said Noah Totsline, an alumnus of UD’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences who finished his graduate program in December. When the researchers added bacteria to lettuce under their microgravity simulation, they found the leafy greens opened their stomata wide instead of closing them.

“The fact that they were remaining open when we were presenting them with what would appear to be a stress was really unexpected,” Totsline said.

Totsline, the lead author of both papers, worked with plant biology professor Harsh Bais as well as microbial food safety professor Kali Kniel and Chandran Sabanayagam of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. The research team used a device called a clinostat to rotate plants at the speed of a rotisserie chicken on a spinner.

“In effect, the plant would not know which way was up or down,” Totsline said. “We were kind of confusing their response to gravity.”

It wasn’t true microgravity, Totsline said, but it did the job to help plants lose their sense of directionality. Ultimately, the researchers discovered that it appears Salmonella can invade leaf tissue more easily under simulated microgravity conditions than it can under typical conditions on Earth.

Additionally, Bais and other UD researchers have shown the usage of a helper bacteria called B. subtilis UD1022 in promoting plant growth and fitness against pathogens or other stressors such as drought.

They added the UD1022 to the microgravity simulation that on Earth can protect plants against Salmonella, thinking it might help the plants fend off Salmonella in microgravity.

Instead, they found the bacterium actually failed to protect plants in space-like conditions, which could stem from the bacteria’s inability to trigger a biochemical response that would force a plant to close its stomata.

“The failure of UD1022 to close stomata under simulated microgravity is both surprising and interesting and opens another can of worms,” Bais said. “I suspect the ability of UD1022 to negate the stomata closure under microgravity simulation may overwhelm the plant and make the plant and UD1022 unable to communicate with each other, helping Salmonella invade a plant.”

Foodborne Pathogens Aboard the International Space Station

Microbes are everywhere. These germs are on us, on animals, on the food we eat and in the environment.

So naturally, UD microbial food safety professor Kali Kniel said that wherever humans are, there is a potential for bacterial pathogens to coexist.

According to NASA, around seven people at a time live and work on the International Space Station.

It’s not the tightest environment — about as big as a six-bedroom house — but it’s still the kind of place where germs can wreak havoc.

“We need to be prepared for and reduce risks in space for those living now on the International Space Station and for those who might live there in the future,” Kniel said. “It is important to better understand how bacterial pathogens react to microgravity in order to develop appropriate mitigation strategies.”

Kniel and Bais have a long history of bringing their subject areas of microbial food safety and plant biology together to study human pathogens on plants.

“To best develop ways to reduce risks associated with the contamination of leafy greens and other produce commodities we need to better understand the interactions between human pathogens on plants grown in space,” Kniel said. “And the best way to do this is with a multidisciplinary approach.”

A Growing Population on Earth, a Greater Need for Safe Food in Space

It may be a while before humans can live on the moon or Mars, but the UD research has some big potential impacts for cohabiting outer space.

According to a United Nations report, the Earth could be home to 9.7 billion people in 2050 and 10.4 billion people in 2100.

On top of that, Bais, the UD plant biology professor, said food safety and food security measures are already at their peak across the world. With the loss of agricultural land over time to grow food, “people are going to soon think seriously about alternate habitation spaces,” he said. “These are not fiction anymore.”

And seemingly more often, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will issue a recall on certain lettuce on Earth, telling people not to eat it because of a risk of E. coli or Salmonella.

With leafy greens being the food of choice for many astronauts and easy to grow in indoor environments such as a hydroponic environment in the International Space Station, Bais said it’s important to make sure those greens are always safe to eat.

“You don’t want the whole mission to fail just because of a food safety outbreak,” Bais said.

Solutions: sterilized seeds and improved genetics

So, if plants are opening their stomata wider in a microgravity environment and allowing bacteria to easily get in, what can be done?

It turns out, the answer isn’t that simple.

“Starting with sterilized seeds is a way to reduce risks of having microbes on plants,” Kniel said. “But then microbes may be in the space environment and can get onto plants that way.”

Bais said scientists may need to tweak plants’ genetics to prevent them from opening their stomata wider in space. His lab is already taking different lettuce varieties that have different genetics and evaluating them under simulated microgravity.

“If, for example, we find one that closes their stomata compared to another we have already tested that opens their stomata, then we can try to compare the genetics of these two different cultivars,” Bais said. “That will give us a lot of questions in terms of what is changing.”

Any answers they find could help prevent future problems with rocket salad.

References:

“Simulated microgravity facilitates stomatal ingression by Salmonella in lettuce and suppresses a biocontrol agent” by Noah Totsline, Kalmia E. Kniel, Chandran Sabagyanam and Harsh P. Bais, 9 January 2024, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51573-y

“Microgravity and evasion of plant innate immunity by human bacterial pathogens” by Noah Totsline, Kalmia E. Kniel and Harsh P. Bais, 7 September 2023, npj Microgravity.
DOI: 10.1038/s41526-023-00323-x

The research was funded by NASA-EPSCoR.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : SciTechDaily – https://scitechdaily.com/space-salad-dilemma-study-raises-health-concerns-for-astronauts/

Tags: SaladscienceSpace
Previous Post

The Science Behind ASMR: First-of-Its-Kind Research Sheds New Light

Next Post

Zooming Ahead: The Pandemic-Induced Prosperity Shift in American Life

We live in a sailboat and travel the world full-time… but our lifestyle isn’t as glamorous as you’d think – Daily Mail

Living Full-Time on a Sailboat and Traveling the World: The Reality Behind the Glamour

October 21, 2025
3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

October 21, 2025
This Week in Navy Sports Presented by Navy Federal Credit Union – Naval Academy Athletics

Thrilling Moments from This Week in Navy Sports

October 21, 2025
New Land Cruiser “FJ” Makes World Premiere – トヨタ自動車株式会社 公式企業サイト

Unveiling the All-New Land Cruiser “FJ”: A Bold and Exciting World Premiere

October 20, 2025
World economy resilient but underwhelming, says IMF chief – African Business

Global Economy Proves Resilient Yet Growth Falls Short, Warns IMF Chief

October 20, 2025
Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

October 20, 2025
Proteases in intestinal health and disease – Nature

The Vital Role of Proteases in Intestinal Health and Disease

October 20, 2025
Chloe Thurston and Mary McGrath join the Perspectives on Politics editorial team as Associate Editors – Political Science Now

Chloe Thurston and Mary McGrath Join Perspectives on Politics as New Associate Editors

October 20, 2025
African Journal of Ecology paper wins Ig Nobel Prize 2025! – Wiley Online Library

Groundbreaking African Ecology Study Wins 2025 Ig Nobel Prize!

October 20, 2025
Celebrating the Science of Quilts – Hyperallergic

Unraveling the Art and Science Behind Quilts

October 20, 2025

Categories

Archives

October 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (877)
  • Economy (899)
  • Entertainment (21,770)
  • General (17,710)
  • Health (9,940)
  • Lifestyle (912)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (899)
  • Politics (909)
  • Science (16,109)
  • Sports (21,399)
  • Technology (15,879)
  • World (882)

Recent News

We live in a sailboat and travel the world full-time… but our lifestyle isn’t as glamorous as you’d think – Daily Mail

Living Full-Time on a Sailboat and Traveling the World: The Reality Behind the Glamour

October 21, 2025
3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

October 21, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version