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SpaceX just launched disease-causing bacteria to the International Space Station


What they bring back may help us get to the bottom of public health problems on Earth, like antibiotic resistance and infectious disease spread.

Scientists at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, in partnership with U.S.-based space tech company SpaceTango, have developed a study that will examine how microgravity affects the growth of certain bacterial species that cause diseases in humans. "We know that space conditions affect bacterial behavior, including how they grow, express genes, and acquire traits like antibiotic resistance or virulence," Ohad Gal-Mor, Head of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at Sheba Medical Center, said in a statement. Human genes sometimes express themselves differently in microgravity conditions, and scientists have linked such an environment to the expedited loss of muscle seen in astronauts, and even their likelihood of developing skin rashes.

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