An experiment launched last year came back to earth with evidence that the bacterium Salmonella becomes more virulent when exposed to the ravages of the extraterrestrial climate. The bacteria spent 12 days exposed to the radiation of space, and the zero gravity of aforementioned space. The experiment was carried out by Arizona State University. The pathogen raised in space was more than three times likely to kill test animals than a control strain of the same bacteria kept on earth.

There was another experiment launching this year that will test similar ideas. It is a student experiment from Russia. At least I think it was this year. My quick search for a news link turned up very little definitive information on that particular experiment, but it did show that many similar experiments with bacteria and fungi have been tried in the past.

I promised other critters in the title. I am a man of my word. Russia will be sending Tardigrades into space on the FOTON M3 satellite. This is another one from boing boing. Tardigrades are very hardy critter than can live in very harsh conditions on earth.

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