Alien Bio-Threat: Space Travel Presents Biosecurity Risks of Pathogens Hitchhiking to Earth, Warn Scientists | The Weather Channel – Articles from The…

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From time immemorial, there have been relentless speculations about the possibility of alien life. Ever since space exploration took off, we have realised that the chances of complex life forms in our immediate vicinity are quite bleak. But the possibility of past or present microbial life in our nearby celestial bodies have always excited scientists.

And while most of us may dismiss the matter as a lesser concern, some researchers have proposed that the advent of increasingly frequent space flights might put us under a genuine threat of unwelcome alien visitors. And they might not be the friendly ones like E.T. or Bollywood's own alien, Jadoo.

In reality, the probability of extraterrestrial life is more along the lines of alien microorganisms and less spooky antenna-bearing creatures. According to Anthony Ricciardi and his colleagues from McGill University, microscopic organisms from outer space, should they exist, may even hitch a ride on a spacecraft back to Earth.

Not only that, we might also end up sending microbes from Earth to space which could be equally bad. The researchers warn that sophisticated protocols are required to prevent biological contamination of extraterrestrial environments from Earth and vice versa.

Frankly, a lot of things!

Space-like conditions have proven to stimulate rapid genetic mutations in microorganisms. Researchers discovered that when a thousand generations of E.coli were grown in microgravity, the hazardous bacteria became even more competitive, resulting in antibiotic resistance.

Now imagine that such a resistant bacteria is accidentally carried back to Earth. It would be disastrous and might even endanger human life. And while this seems like a hypothetical situation, the authors reiterate an example of something that has already happened.

A while ago, bacterial strains showing extreme resistance have already been isolated in NASA "clean rooms", the place where engineers assemble spacecraft. The study's authors pointed out that if these tiny microbes find their way on board a spacecraft, they could grow even more virulent in microgravity conditions.

The recent research highlights several other instances where human-induced biological invasions of microorganisms on Earth have caused considerable damage to the native species.

Since 2013, scientists have been warning about the probability of radiation-resistant microbes returning to Earth, capable of surviving the severe conditions of space. Bacterial strains of this type have already been detected aboard the International Space Station, demonstrating how difficult they may be to avoid.

The researchers also point out that the evolutionary descendants of these bacterial strains could sabotage human efforts to colonise Mars!

As per Ricciardi, space agencies such as NASA have been aware of the possible concerns of biological contamination for many years, and planetary protection measures have been in place since the 1960s. However, the new phase of space exploration targeting places most likely to harbour life poses enormous risks, he said.

Unfortunately, the current planetary protection guidelines are not mandatory.

The International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) has assembled a Panel on Planetary Protection, but none of the members has experience with invasion science. This, according to Australian invasion biologists, is a significant oversight. They claim that more complex processes are needed to prevent biological contamination of Earth from extraterrestrial settings and vice versa.

Another issue is the lack of knowledge about what's "alien" and what's native. Researchers propose greater collaboration between invasion biologists and astrobiologists to enhance existing international protocols for planetary biosecurityboth for Earth and for extraterrestrial bodies that could contain life.

The study was published in the journal BioScience this month and can be accessed here.

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Alien Bio-Threat: Space Travel Presents Biosecurity Risks of Pathogens Hitchhiking to Earth, Warn Scientists | The Weather Channel - Articles from The...