The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate 40,000 cases of salmonella infection are reported in the United States every year. A second series of salmonella investigations, overseen by Timothy Hammond at the Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center in North Carolina, flew aboard the space station last year. Hammond's team is pursuing a vaccine based on the genetic changes seen in the space-borne bacteria. "They are investigating whether you could use the virulence of the changes to develop a vaccine," Robinson told Discovery News. Hammond's team flew four experiments, with no public results available yet, Robinson said. The salmonella investigations are the most mature of dozens of experiments that have been conducted aboard the space station, which so far has led to 162 publications in science research journals, Robinson said. With the station's live-aboard crew slated to double from three to six members next month, the number of experiments is expected to increase dramatically. "A year ago we had 30 experiments over a six-month period. Now, we're already well over 100," Robinson said. Related Links: Discovery Space Blog: Free Space HowStuffWorks.com: Space Station HowStuffWorks.com: How the NASA Space Food Research Lab Works |
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