Scientists To Send Fungi To Space In Search For New Medicine

It does seem as though space is shaping up to be the next frontier for humanity, where there has been a fair number of expeditions and experiments done there, including the intention of setting a cargo ship on fire in space intentionally. Well, this time around, it looks as though scientists intend to send some fungi into space, as they keep their fingers crossed that new medicine can be researched into.

The main reason that the four strains of fungi being sent to the International Space Station? Well, when these small organisms are placed within the stress of microgravity and space radiation, what kind of new medicinal values could these fungi develop in a totally different environment. This is truly an intersection of pharmaceutical science and space exploration.

After all, one of the most famous fungi-sourced medicine that we have seen to date would be none other than that of penicillin, where we have also come across a myriad of other fungi-produced medicines including the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin and the anti-fungal griseofluvin. Not only that, researchers are currently on the path of checking out as to whether different kinds of secondary metabolites might be useful in the battle against cancer, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease.

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: NASA, Science