Why Brazilian researchers sent fungus into space – 03/28/2023 – Science

Launched from NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center, in Florida (USA), in November 2022, the CRS-26 mission, with a SpaceX rocket, carried material prepared by Brazilian researchers among the supplies sent to NASA astronauts. International Space Station (ISS).

About 17 hours later, the rocket docked at the station. Astronauts received the material in a specially prepared test tube for experiments carried out outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

During the following month, one of them was responsible for conducting the experiments in accordance with the instructions of the Brazilian researchers.

Between this and dozens of other surveys from around the world sent into space, in addition to station maintenance, the astronauts’ routine is demanding, with ten hours of work a day — there is almost no time left to watch the 16 sunsets visible from the ISS every day.

Conducted by researchers from the Brazilian pharmaceutical company Cimed in partnership with researchers from USP (University of São Paulo), the research sent to the ISS by CRS-26 is a study on the absorption of vitamins and minerals by yeasts (unicellular fungi), explains pharmacist Patricia Lazzarotto, specializing in biotechnology and aerospace pharmacy and scientific advisor to the company.

extreme environment

But what is the advantage of doing the study in space?

“The space station is a laboratory of extreme conditions in which we can analyze fungi, bacteria, viruses and other samples in a situation of stress”, explains the researcher.

According to Lazzarotto, we were able to simulate microgravity on Earth, but intermittently, while on the ISS microgravity is constant, allowing for better analyses.

“All organisms evolved based on the Earth’s gravity and from the moment I remove and place the cells in microgravity, they feel disoriented”, says Lazzarotto.

The stress environment added to the presence of vitamins, she says, generates a series of alterations in the expression of several genes —those of interest to the research are those related to the aging of cells.

The aim of the research is to understand how vitamins kept in contact with yeast altered the microorganisms’ genes —the molecular genetic analysis is already being carried out on Earth, after the return of the material.

Lazzarotto says that the preliminary results were very positive.

“The yeast there managed to survive in a stressful environment and managed to have enough energy to multiply and develop”, he explains.

According to her, this type of research can help in the development of new treatments and more effective formulas.

This study is part of the second phase of the company’s aerospace research project. In the first, the experiments analyzed the process of crystallization of the Sars-Cov-2 virus protein, responsible for Covid-19, in space.

Text originally published on the BBC News Brasil website.