For the first time ever, fungi will be sent to the International Space Station, in the hopes that the high-radiation and micro-gravity conditions will help create new medicines that can be used on Earth and in space! Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are collaborating to send Aspergillus nidulans, a species of fungi to space. The specimen will be carried by the SpaceX CRS-8 mission scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral on April 8. “Certain types of fungi produce very important molecules called secondary metabolites that are not essential for their growth or reproduction but can be used to make beneficial pharmaceuticals. Examples of secondary metabolites include the antibiotic penicillin and the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin,” said a USC statement.

The environment in space could help the fungi create molecules it can’t produce on Earth.

“The high-radiation, micro-gravity environment in space could prompt Aspergillus nidulans to produce molecules it doesn’t create in Earth’s less stressful conditions,” Clay Wang, professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences and chemistry at the USC school of pharmacy, was quoted as saying by the media.

“We’ve done extensive genetic analysis of this fungus and found that it could potentially produce 40 different types of drugs,” Wang said.

“The organism is known to produce osteoporosis drugs, which is very important from an astronaut’s perspective because we know that in space travel, astronauts experience bone loss.”

Scientists also said that molecules from Aspergillus nidulans potentially may be useful in anti-cancer and Alzheimer’s disease research.