Space Research May Lead to Salmonella Vaccine

The International Space Station (ISS) was conceived as an orbital lab that would allow research in conditions unavailable on Earth. This research was to lead to, among other useful things, dramatically new drugs and treatment.

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However, for a long time, promises were all we got. This was due in part to the endless delays in the design and construction of the ISS. Does anyone remember that the original plans called for a large space station to become operational in the year 1992? This would not have been an international venture. Now, over 15 years later and following massive re-design and downscaling, finally the ISS is nearing completion. What we get will be nowhere near the grand plans of yore. 

Small wonder that space enthusiasts can't help getting a bit disillusioned, even sceptical. I'm a world-class enthusiast, but even I feel that way.

But hey, wait a minute. Just when everybody stopped expecting it, microgravity research may have hit pay dirt, big time. With mounting excitement, I read this article on spaceflightnow.com. It is about biomedical research with the aim of finding a vaccine against Salmonella. These cause millions of bacterial infections (including typhoid) yearly and kill many thousands of people worldwide. The article states that in the USA, seven million people a year contract salmonella infections. 20,000 of these have to be hospitalized, 500 to 700 cases are lethal.

I have to state right away that I am an engineer, not a biologist or a physician. All I can do here is to try and sum up what I read elsewhere ... but that does look very promising. And I quote:

The Salmonella breakthrough occurred when Astrogenetix [the company that conducted the research] [....] discovered that zero gravity increases the potency of the Salmonella bacteria. Astrogenetix then did space tests to determine which genes in Salmonella were responsible for this.

The space testing narrowed the increased virulence to two genes in the bacteria. Those genes were then removed individually for space testing. The bacteria were fed to tiny research worms, which would die if they consumed bacteria with a specific gene. That testing resulted in discovery of the specific gene that causes Salmonella to cause disease.

The company believes that by identifying that specific gene, its scientists can remove that specific gene from Salmonella bacteria reproducing in a ground laboratory. This would create harmless salmonella bacteria that can be used to create a vaccine.

Clever use of a fact that was discovered and reported years ago, namely that certain bacteria are more virulent in weightlessness than under normal conditions. But wait, there's more:

The same gene removal research can be used to disable other disease-causing bacteria for other vaccine production.

Yay! This means that even if they manage to create a salmonella vaccine, which will be of benefit to literally everyone, it may be just the beginning. The method could constitute a blueprint for further research leading to a multitude of drugs and opening up venues to cures that medical research has been looking for in vain.

Media, literature and movies sometimes present biomedical research as if scientists could perform genetic engineering with pinpoint precision, achieving any desired effect at will. In reality, there is a lot of trial-and-error involved. Science still has a long way to go.

A lucky break in experimental research can unexpectedly throw the door wide open to a whole new field of new results. Fundamental research is by nature not directed at a precise goal and cannot be planned exactly. You don't know what exactly you are looking for, nor what you will find out, but you have the chance of stumbling upon something truly revolutionary.

One statement in that article bothers me. They mention the cost of hygiene in food production. What are they trying to tell us there? Once there is a vaccine, hygiene no longer is an issue and they can save all that money? Ahem ... that can hardly be the point here. There is a vast potential for savings, but that has to do with the cost of patient treatment that will no longer be incurred. 

Of course I am aware that there is a long and stony path from initial research to an available drug. Still, if at the end of this path there is a vaccine, it would be worth the effort. Here we have it. Humans benefit from space research. Many millions of humans, especially the weakest among us, the poor who love in the path of an approaching hurricane, the sick who need a cure for their illness. 

So the next time you read about petty political squabbles that delay a space research project for years or decades, remember that this delay may not be merely annoying. A delay may also unnecessarily condemn millions of people to years of suffering or to premature death. The squabblers may not care, but I do  care, and I am sure you care, and those in need of the fruits of the delayed research certainly care. 

Despite all that, today, I'm happy ... and that is also a beneficial by-product of space research. 

Further Information

Article on medgadget.com on the effect of weightlessness on bacterial virulence (25.9.2007)

Article on sciencenow.com on the same topic (24.9.2007)

 

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