“It is the goal and passion of my team to use the microgravity environment of spaceflight as an innovative research platform to unveil novel cellular and molecular mechanisms directly relevant to disease progression that cannot be observed here on Earth.
Space flight alters cellular and physiological responses in astronauts including the immune response,” said Nickerson, who led a project aboard several NASA’s space shuttle missions. “However, relatively little was known about microbial changes to infectious disease risk in response to space flight.”
Nickerson’s team performed the first studies to investigate the effect of spaceflight on the genetic responses and disease-causing potential, or virulence, of several bacteria, including Salmonella typhimurium, the main bacterial culprit of food poisoning. The group showed that Salmonella became more virulent as a result of spaceflight.
“I am excited with the potential of this work to both mitigate the risk of infectious disease of astronauts during future exploration missions, as well as for the development of novel strategies to diagnose, treat and prevent infectious disease for the general public. I am confident that spaceflight platforms, such as the International Space Station National Laboratory and commercial spacecraft, will provide exciting, ground-breaking discoveries in a variety of biomedical fields that will translationally advance human health and quality of life for many years to come.”
Cheryl Nickerson, PhD
Professor
Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Each month, innovative research from the Biodesign Institute appears in the world’s premier scientific journals. Many such studies have graced the covers of these journals, showcasing Biodesign research ranging from water remediation to nanometer-scale structures built from DNA.
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