ArticlePeerJ2017
A microbial survey of the International Space Station (ISS).
Article in PeerJ, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 47 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed.
- Longitudinal analysis of stowaway microorganisms aboard modules and cargo spacecraft of the Chinese Space Station.Microbiome · 2026Article
- Bacterial resistance across habitats: from German schools to the International Space Station.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Touching Surfaces - Presence of microorganisms on antimicrobial metal surfaces on the International Space Station and in German schools.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Exposure to elevated relative humidity in laboratory chambers alters fungal gene expression in dust from the International Space Station (ISS).Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies.Nature microbiology · 2025Review
- Biotic resistance predictably shifts microbial invasion regimes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Food fermentation in space: Opportunities and challenges.iScience · 2025Article
- Article
- On-orbit microbial succession patterns of the China Space Station during the construction period.Microbiome · 2025Article
- The human microbiome in space: parallels between Earth-based dysbiosis, implications for long-duration spaceflight, and possible mitigation strategies.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2024Review
- Predicting how varying moisture conditions impact the microbiome of dust collected from the International Space Station.Microbiome · 2024Article
- Spaceflight alters host-gut microbiota interactions.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2024Article
- Assessing oral and toothbrush microbial profiles among high-altitude individuals with and without periodontal disease: a case-control study.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Fungal diversity differences in the indoor dust microbiome from built environments on earth and in space.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Microbial adaptation to spaceflight is correlated with bacteriophage-encoded functions.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Microbiome in a ground-based analog cabin of China Space Station during a 50-day human occupation.ISME communications · 2024Article
- Whole genome-scale assessment of gene fitness of Novosphingobium aromaticavorans during spaceflight.BMC genomics · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundModern advances in sequencing technology have enabled the census of microbial members of many natural ecosystems. Recently, attention is increasingly being paid to the microbial residents of human-made, built ecosystems, both private (homes) and public (subways, office buildings, and hospitals). Here, we report results of the characterization of the microbial ecology of a singular built environment, the International Space Station (ISS). This ISS sampling involved the collection and microbial analysis (via 16S rDNA PCR) of 15 surfaces sampled by swabs onboard the ISS. This sampling was a component of Project MERCCURI (Microbial Ecology Research Combining Citizen and University Researchers on ISS). Learning more about the microbial inhabitants of the "buildings" in which we travel through space will take on increasing importance, as plans for human exploration continue, with the possibility of colonization of other planets and moons.
resultsSterile swabs were used to sample 15 surfaces onboard the ISS. The sites sampled were designed to be analogous to samples collected for (1) the Wildlife of Our Homes project and (2) a study of cell phones and shoes that were concurrently being collected for another component of Project MERCCURI. Sequencing of the 16S rDNA genes amplified from DNA extracted from each swab was used to produce a census of the microbes present on each surface sampled. We compared the microbes found on the ISS swabs to those from both homes on Earth and data from the Human Microbiome Project.
conclusionsWhile significantly different from homes on Earth and the Human Microbiome Project samples analyzed here, the microbial community composition on the ISS was more similar to home surfaces than to the human microbiome samples. The ISS surfaces are species-rich with 1,036-4,294 operational taxonomic units (OTUs per sample). There was no discernible biogeography of microbes on the 15 ISS surfaces, although this may be a reflection of the small sample size we were able to obtain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.