Thanks to a successful experiment carried out by a team of Indian scientists, now there is a species of bacteria named after ISRO and another one after legendary Indian astronomer Aryabhata.

Bacillus isronensis and Bacillus aryabhata are among three new species of bacteria discovered in the upper stratosphere which have been found to be highly resistant to ultra-violent radiation. The third species has been named Janibacer hoylei, after distinguished astrophysicist Fred Hoyle, a press release from ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) said.

ISRO carried out the balloon experiments which led to the discovery of the new species. Scientists from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS) in Pune and some other institutions collaborated in the experiment which was the second such project undertaken by ISRO.

The experiment was conducted using a 26.7 million cubic feet balloon, carrying a 459-kg scientific payload soaked in 38-kg of liquid neon. The balloon was flown from the National Balloon Facility in Hyderabad and operated by TIFR. The payload consisted of a cryosampler containing 16 evacuated and sterilised stainless steel probes, the press release said.

Throughout the flight, the probes remained immersed in liquid neon to trap gases and vapours from the stratosphere. These steel cylinders, after collecting air samples from different heights ranging from 20 km to 41 km, were parachuted down and safely retrieved. The samples were analysed by the scientists at NCCB and NCCS following a homogenous procedure.

The analysis revealed that out of the 12 bacterial colonies detected in the air samples, nine had more than 98 per cent similarity with species found on earth. Three, however, were completely new, and had significantly higher ultra-violent resistance compared to their nearest phylogenetic neighbours, the release said.

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