surfaces

Washington: To keep space travellers safe, NASA researchers are taking steps to fight fungus as prolonged stay in closed habitats that may one day be used to explore other planets might be stressful for inhabitants and thus lead to decreased immune response, making people more vulnerable to opportunistic pathogens like fungi. Human presence in closed habitats is associated with changes in the composition of the fungal community -- the mycobiome -- that grows on surfaces inside the habitat, according to a study published in the journal Microbiome. "Our study is the first report on the mycobiome of a simulated habitat meant for…