Jay Clemens
AlloSource, a nonprofit cellular and tissue network, has partnered with NASA and the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to conduct microbial research in an effort to help improve medical care for astronauts who fly into space.
A team of AlloSource, NASA and JPL scientists aims to determine the effects of zero gravity on antibiotic resistant genes in microorganisms taken from the International Space Station, with AlloSource responsible for describing the antimicrobial activity of isolated microbes, the nonprofit said Thursday.
“This work with NASA and JPL on microbial research efforts aligns with our commitment to improve processes at AlloSource in order to fully maximize the gift of tissue donation,” said Peter Stevens, vice president of development and growth at AlloSource.
The Targeted Amplification of Antibiotic Resistant Genes Associated with the International Space Station Environment study is designed to monitor the change in resistance of microbes over time against similar strains on Earth.
The goal is to look for methods to detect the presence of microorganisms to provide allograft services to patients.
AlloSource provides skin, bone and soft tissue allografts for surgical procedure applications.
