Have you ever thought that a fungus can protect astronauts?

 

Do you know that Astronauts are exposed to approximately 50-2,000 millisieverts (mSv) while on six-month-duration missions to the International space Station (ISS)? As the risk of cancer caused by radiation is well documented at radiation doses beginning at 100mSv and above.
Welcome to explore another linkage between biology and astronomy.
Undoubtedly you all have heard about Chernobyl disaster that took place in 1986. It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in the human history. Five years later scientists found that the walls of the power plant were covered with a black mould. This black color is a result of a pigment called melanin. They found there are three fungi species which are responsible for this mould namely; Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Wangiella dermatitidis and Cryptococcus neoformans.  Among them scientists believe that C.neoformans can protect human from deadly rays.
As radiation exposure is a major problem for astronauts the finding of this fungal species will help to overcome that health issue. This fungi can decompose radioactive materials as it feeds on radioactive rays for the production of energy like in plants use carbon dioxide to produce hexose (C6 sugar) and oxygen via the process of photosynthesis. It is believed that the melanin pigment absorbs gamma radiations and converts into a safe chemical energy. This process is known as radio stimulation or radio synthesis. This process can be used as a ‘sun block’ to protect from deadly rays. Currently astronauts at ISS (International Space Station) are working  on experimenting this fungal species.
Not only shielding radiations, this can be used as an energy storage source replacing solar panels. This discovery will make a revolutionary change in near future.

© Kulathi Nishshankage
Graphics by Deshan Rathnayake

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