00:00Astronauts are known for eating not the freshest foods, and while their diets consist of more
00:08than just freeze-dried Neapolitan ice cream, growing food in space is going to be key to
00:12humanity colonizing other planets.
00:15However, a new study has found some troubling news about the healthlessness of greens grown
00:19in space.
00:20According to researchers from the University of Delaware, leafy plants grown in simulated
00:24microgravity are more likely to harbor Salmonella bacteria.
00:28The ISS was already found to be a capsule full of fungi and bacteria as diverse as anywhere
00:32on Earth.
00:33Meaning the discovery of Salmonella on plants grown in similar conditions means it's also
00:37possible to happen up there, a dangerous notion since medical care could be weeks, if not
00:42months away.
00:43So why is lettuce more susceptible to bacteria in microgravity?
00:46Well the researchers found that when the leaves of the plants were in that state of weightlessness,
00:50their stomata pores would open.
00:51These are usually used to keep dangerous bacteria out, meaning the state of microgravity disables
00:56this ability somehow.
00:57With the researchers saying about their findings, the fact that the stomata were remaining open
01:02when we were presenting them with what would appear to be a stress was really unexpected.
01:05It is important to better understand how bacterial pathogens react to microgravity in order to
01:10develop appropriate mitigation strategies.
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