Spacecraft microbes

Spacecraft Microbiology

Spacecraft represent a unique environment for microbes. Spacecraft are generally classified as either manned and unmanned missions and this distinction carries profound consequences on the microbial ecology of the crafts. As on Earth, microbial communities can have both positive and negative effects. While they present hazards like degradation of equipment, infection, and confounding contamination they also offer the promise for advanced life support systems.

Spacecraft Environments

As stated the type of environment available to microbes is fundamentally determined by the presence or absence of humans on the mission.

Manned Spacecraft and Space Stations

Spacecraft designed for human occupancy provide many opportunities for humans. The same conditions that provide an oasis of earth-like conditions for humans benefit their commensal microbial partners as well.

Spacecraft represent a unique environment for bacteria.

Welcome to MicrobeWiki

Study Microbes * Microbial Biorealm * Viral Biorealm * Microbial Mythology

MicrobeWiki is a free wiki resource on microbes and microbiology, authored by students at many colleges and universities. Curated pages such as those linked to the Taxonomy Index are reviewed and updated by microbiologists at Kenyon College. Student pages authored independently, or for coursework, are not monitored further. Interested readers are encouraged to add information, after registering a free account.

Study Microbes is a new section of study questions and recommended species for students to learn, based on the textbook Microbiology: An Evolving Science by Joan Slonczewski and John Foster (W. W. Norton & Co.)

Educators: You may assign MicrobeWiki page creation and editing as projects for your students. We create a template page for your assignment, which you may edit to meet your needs. See for example the pages created by the following classes:

• BIOL 238 Class Index 2024, Joan L. Slonczewski,Kenyon College
• Microbial Ecology, Dr. Jay Lennon, Indiana University
• SSC111 Soil Microbiology, Kate Scow, University of California, Davis
• Microbial Ecology, Dr. Hidetoshi Urakawa, Florida Gulf Coast University.
• General Microbiology by Students of Jennifer Bhatnagar, Boston University

Your students receive individual passwords. Assessment and grading are up to you; after your class is over, we review pages for our standards. Students of all levels, from first-year to graduate students, have contributed pages to our site.

MicrobeWiki includes these curated pages:
Microbial Biorealm: encylopedia of bacteria, archaea and eukaryotic microbes. See also Taxonomy Index.
Viral Biorealm: encyclopedia of viruses of animals and plants, and bacteriophages. See also Taxonomy Index.
Microbial Mythology: common misconceptions and controversies in microbiology.

Managing Editor

Daniel Barich '05

Kenyon Student Editors

Kristina Buschur, '11, Ryo Tashiro '09, Molly Schlemmer '08, Shrochis Karki '09, Drew Taber³, Allison Whipple '06, Zeva Levine¹, Laura Damon-Moore¹, Ariel Kahrl², Hannah Sacks '08, Michael Stulberg '05, Casey M. Smith '06, and Shana Scogin '07

Advisor: Joan Slonczewski, Biology Dept, Kenyon College
Guest editors from ¹Beloit, ²Oberlin, and ³Columbia Union College.
Funded by HHMI awards to Kenyon College, 2000, 2004.

Copyright notice. Readers may view, browse, and/or download material for noncommercial personal purposes. Please credit our site for use. Materials on our site obtained with permission from other sources require permission from those sources
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Disclaimer. Information on this site is provided solely for educational purposes. Medical questions should be referred to a physician.