Examining the diversity of microbes on Earth and on the International Space Station

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Latest News

(updated 8/16/16)

Our space microbes flew to the ISS on April 19th, 2014.   Check out the microbes that flew here, read about the results of the "Microbial Playoffs" here, and see how the microbes grew in space compared to earth here!  NASA also maintains a page describing the project here.

Still to come is our analysis of the microbes already living on the International Space Station (submitted for publication), and our analysis of the 3000 cell phone and shoe samples taken from participants in Project MERCCURI.

Publications:

-Here's a paper describing a new species of bacteria (Porphyrobacter mercurialis... get it?) that we discovered during this project, and that we sent to the ISS.  And here's the paper describing the genome of that species.

-Here is our publication describing the scientific results of the microbial playoffs, and here's a short paper describing the genome of the one bacteria that appeared to grow better in space.

 

Swabbing Stadiums & Space Meetups

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Holly Bik
screen-shot-2013-08-12-at-3-55-29-pm1

How do bacteria differ across different types of surfaces in a building?

Swabbing Stadiums & Space Meetups

Microbial Playoffs…in SPAAAAACE!

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Holly Bik
microbes

How will microbes from YOUR favorite team perform in the space playoffs?

Microbial Playoffs…in SPAAAAACE!

Space Station Microbiome

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Holly Bik
satellite

What kinds of bacteria lurk on the surfaces inside the International Space Station (ISS)?

Space Station Microbiome

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