File:KSC-05-S-00308 (ksc 101005 bacteria).webm

English: Scientists at the Space Life Sciences Lab at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are researching ways to improve the health of astronauts in space. Michele Birmele, a research scientist with Dynamac Corporation at Kennedy, is working with a bacteria bioreporter that will glow when bad bacteria are present. 'We're going to use a virus to detect whether or not there are any bad bacteria in the spacecraft environment.' In her lab, Birmele is testing several different strains of viruses. They're carefully placed in a special computer that will 'read' each well on the test plate to determine if those samples will luminesce, or glow, in response to target bacteria. 'The biosensors have been genetically modified containing a certain set of genes that we wanted....from a marine bacteria called Vibrio fisheri. Now, Vibrio glows, it produces light, when you look at it. It actually has a symbiosis with a marine squid and it glows in the presence of, say, stress, so these cells communicate to each other.' Once Birmele's research is complete, the good bacteria portion will be mated to a microchip smaller than a penny. The technology will eventually be flown on space vehicles and the International Space Station to alert the crew to potential health issues that can be addressed quickly.