BACTERIA ARCHAEA AND FUNGI INHABIT VIRTUALLY EVERY REALM OF OUR PLANET INCLUDING OUR OWN BODIES. OVER THEIR 4-BILLION-YEAR EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY THEY HAVE SHOWN REMARKABLE ADAPTATION TO THE ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER THESE SAME MICROBES ARE NOW ADAPTING TO OUR BUILT ENVIRONMENTS SUCH AS OUR HOMES HOSPITALS OFFICES AND CLOSED HABITATS LIKE THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS). WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT IF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT PROMOTES MICROBIAL STRESS-SURVIVAL WE WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AND VIRULENCE. TO TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS WE WILL FOCUS ON THE MICROBIOMES OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT OF SPACECRAFT USING EXISTING DATA (GENELAB) AND ISOLATED MICROBIAL STRAINS HELD AT JPL/NASA.

University Of California, San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators