{
  "id": 10447733,
  "title": "Hibernating bacteria can invade hospitals and survive outer space – but their high energy bill is a weakness that scientists can strike",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/hibernating-bacteria-can-invade-hospitals-and-survive-outer-space-but",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-28T12:39:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Conversation",
    "slug": "the-conversation",
    "url": "https://theconversation.com/hibernating-bacteria-can-invade-hospitals-and-survive-outer-space-but-their-high-energy-bill-is-a-weakness-that-scientists-can-strike-289354"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Bacillus subtilis bacteria produce near-indestructible spores that can survive extreme conditions, including the vacuum of space. These spores can survive boiling, desiccation, radiation, and outer space, and can return to life upon returning to Earth. This survival ability has been passed down for about 3 billion years. However, when Bacillus subtilis is grown in a laboratory flask with ample nutrients, it loses the ability to produce spores within a few thousand generations. Scientists have found that the energy cost of forming and activating a spore is too high for evolution to maintain this trait if it is not being used. By calculating the energy required to make a spore and bring it back to life, scientists discovered that the cost is nearly 10 billion ATP molecules, making it one of the most expensive processes for a bacterium. The spore also holds almost no ready-made fuel, but instead carries raw materials to help germinate. The high energy cost and lack of readily available fuel for waking up makes the spore vulnerable, providing a weak point that scientists can target to combat hospital infections caused by spore-forming bacteria.",
  "summary": "Bacteria make a survival gamble when they devote all their energy to forming spores. Evolution is quick to get rid of this function, and researchers did the accounting to understand why.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}