Highlights

• The review identifies an increase in microbial growth and virulence under space conditions, similar to what we are witnessing with climate change, necessitating advanced detection and control mechanisms.
• It emphasizes the need for technological improvements to monitor and mitigate health risks posed by microorganisms on long-duration space missions.
• The paper calls for multidisciplinary approaches to prevent Earth’s non-pathogenic microorganisms from gaining pathogenic traits in space and to protect astronaut health.

Summary

This paper explores the increased activity in space exploration and the inherent risks associated with accompanying microorganisms. It highlights the need to understand how microbes, carried with humans and equipment, might pose health risks due to the limited medical resources available during space missions.

The significance of microbes extends from Earth to space, where the enclosed environments of space missions intensify microbial-host interactions. Such phenomenon necessitates technological advancements to effectively monitor and control these microbes, particularly with the extended durations of future missions to celestial bodies like the Moon and Mars.

Microbes in space tend to grow more robustly, and some exhibit increased virulence than their Earth counterparts, necessitating in-depth and multidisciplinary research. Such research is crucial to prevent the transformation of harmless microbes into harmful ones in space, to manage increased pathogenicity, and to safeguard astronaut health and mission safety.

Simões, M. F., & Antunes, A. (2021). Microbial Pathogenicity in Space. Pathogens 2021, 10, 450, doi: 10.3390/pathogens10040450.