iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Following their successful entry at the International Space Station, Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore are now facing a superbug challenge.
The duo docking their Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft at the ISS on Thursday, June 6.
Williams and Butch will remain there for a week-long stay, while they will test the Starliner and its subsystems as the next step in the spacecraft’s certification for rotational missions as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, reports said.
Meanwhile, scientists discovered a superbug notorious for being resistant to drugs, triggering concerns among astronauts regarding their health. The discovery was made using samples isolated from the ISS.
As per The Independent, scientists found 13 strains of the bacterium Enterobacter bugandensis. It is known to be multidrug resistant.
The report said that these bacterial strains mutated under the stress of the space environment and became genetically distinct from their Earthly counterparts, making them potent to cause a plethora of infections.
According to researchers, the closed human environment of the ISS offers a unique extreme environment with microgravity, radiation and elevated carbon dioxide levels that force such microbes to adapt in order to thrive.
Researchers disclosed that the bacterium from the ISS sample developed a method to evade the action of multiple types of antibiotics by growing resistant.
