They have n’t encounter foreign life-time out there yet , but follow the first successful in - space DNA sequence , astronauts have a better way to appear for it .
This first tryout was mostly just to see thatDNA sequence oeuvre in outer space the same way as it does here on Earth . Although next exam will include new samples of obscure source , for the initial trial , cosmonaut Kate Rubins used previously fain shiner , bacterium , and virus DNA samples , whose sequences were already known . While Rubins did the run on the space post , NASA researchers were sequencing the same stage set of sample distribution on the dry land . Initial results appear to be identical both on Earth and in outer space — and that means that , for the first fourth dimension ever , we have a working deoxyribonucleic acid sequencer in space .
When I talked to the scientists behind the sequencer , call the minION , this summertime , they noted that they already had a legion of planned use for it on the ISS alone . The researchers plan to execute literal - clock time checks on how well the air and water filtration scheme are puzzle out . Recently , a deep fungus has been sprouting on the outer space place wall , and astronauts have n’t had any way of envision out just what it is or where it came from . With the sequenator onboard , astronauts could now black market a swab of the fungus .
Down the line , the sequencer could be used to search for living on the open of other worlds — whether on Mars or an asteroid .
AliensNASAScienceSpace
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