concentration of bacteriophages was an order of magnitude lower than the
initial concentration.
BAKTERIOFAG-L
Experiment results showed that bacteriophages in lyophilically dried form do
not change their biological properties over the course of 3 months under
spaceflight conditions. The study of the properties of bacteriophages after 3-
month and 6-month exposures to spaceflight showed that in lyophilically
dried bacteriophages exposed to long-term spaceflight, the lytic spectrum
reduces by 1.5 – 2 times, the lytic activity reduces by 5 orders of magnitude,
and resistance to temperature factors and pH fluctuations also decreases.
The obtained results show that gel-form bacteriophages exposed to
spaceflight for 1 month do not reduce lytic activity, maintain their resistance
to temperature and pH fluctuations, and this specific timeframe is
acceptable for their storage. Improving the environment for retaining
therapeutic bacteriophages in long-term spaceflight requires further
experimentation.
This investigation is complete; however additional results are pending
publication.
Electron
micrographs of
bacteriophages
after 6 months
in space from
ISS Expedition- Roscosmos
image.