Hibernating bacteria can invade hospitals and survive outer space—but their energy budget reveals a weakness

AI Summary

Bacterial spores can remain dormant through extreme conditions, including boiling, radiation, desiccation, and exposure to space, before returning to active life. A NASA satellite experiment found that Bacillus spores shielded from sunlight survived nearly six years in orbit, and researchers suggest their limited energy budget may reveal a vulnerability.

A spore is a bacterium's survival capsule: dried almost solid and wrapped in protein armor, with its chemical processes shut down. Bacteria enter this state of hibernation when environmental conditions are unfavorable. What's left is close to indestructible: It can survive boiling, desiccation, radiation and the vacuum of space. NASA once bolted Bacillus spores to the outside of a satellite and left them in orbit for nearly six years; the ones shielded from sunlight were able to come back to life upon returning to Earth.