Microbiology & Virology Archives

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Comets and Asteroids, Commercial & Private Sector, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Space Life Science, Space Stations

BioAsteroid Payload On Orbit

by Keith CowingJanuary 15, 2021February 3, 2026

Inside one of the containers of this 40-cm-across miniature laboratory in orbit, a battle is set to start between asteroid-like fragments and rock-hungry microbes, to probe their use for space […]

A preflight view of BioAsteroid Experiment Unit where the BioAsteroid investigation is performed integrated into the Experiment Container for the BioAsteroid investigation. Each Experiment Unit has two culture chambers. Credits: ESA

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Comets and Asteroids, Commercial & Private Sector, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Space Life Science, Space Stations

Microbes To Demonstrate Biomining Of Asteroid Material Aboard The Space Station

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2020February 3, 2026

As humanity moves closer to the possibility of living and working millions of miles from Earth on planets like Mars, scientists are looking beyond our planet at how to acquire […]

This fluorescent work of art captures the beauty of biofilms, or the growth of microbes on rocks. In this microscopic image, Sphingomonas desiccabilis is growing on basalt. It is one of three microbes chosen for the BioRock experiment, run by a research team from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, that will test how altered states of gravity affect biofilm formation on the International Space Station.

Commercial & Private Sector, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release

Building An Extra-terrestrial Habitat – One Microbe At A Time

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2020April 12, 2024

We are making good progress towards going to the Moon and Mars.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Life In The Clouds

by Keith CowingOctober 11, 2020November 30, 2023

High above our heads, even beyond 120,000 feet up, scientists have found tiny organisms called microbes. These high-flyers were swept up from the ground by winds and storms, or spewed […]

Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Air-Eating Microbes

by Keith CowingAugust 20, 2020

In their first follow-up to a high-profile 2017 study which showed microbes in Antarctica have a unique ability to essentially live on air, researchers from UNSW Sydney have now discovered […]

Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Previously Undescribed Lineage Of Archaea Illuminates Microbial Evolution

by Keith CowingAugust 10, 2020

In a publication in Nature Communications last Friday, NIOZ scientists Nina Dombrowski and Anja Spang and their collaboration partners describe a previously unknown phylum of aquatic Archaea that are likely […]

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Radiation

A Self-Replicating Radiation-Shield for Human Deep-Space Exploration: Radiotrophic Fungi can Attenuate Ionizing Radiation aboard the International Space Station

by Keith CowingJuly 27, 2020November 18, 2023

The greatest hazard for humans on deep-space exploration missions is radiation. To protect astronauts venturing out beyond Earth’s protective magnetosphere and sustain a permanent presence on Moon and/or Mars, advanced […]

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Desert Mosses Use Quartz Rocks As Sun Shades

by Keith CowingJuly 24, 2020August 23, 2025

Living under a translucent rock can be quite comfortable — if you’re a moss in the Mojave Desert. A graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, found that some […]

Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Advancing Knowledge On Archaea

by Keith CowingJuly 21, 2020

Bioinformatics and big data analyses can reap great rewards for biologists, but it takes a lot of work to generate the datasets necessary to begin. At the same time, researchers […]

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Ancient Enzymes Can Contribute To Greener Chemistry

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2020November 18, 2023

A research team at Uppsala University has resurrected several billion-year-old enzymes and reprogrammed them to catalyse completely different chemical reactions than their modern versions can manage. The method can be […]