SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is launching the deadly pathogen into space and he just picked a very interesting date for it. Expected to reach space on Feb. 14, the pathogen called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) will be used in the International Space Station for a study on how near-zero gravity affects gene mutation patterns to expression. The study is suggested to give light on what the lethal pathogen could do on Earth and potentially find molecules that could fight its strains.

MRSA has caused several types of infections that have been difficult to treat. Apart from its strong resistance to antibiotics, the diseases have been frequent, making it reportedly hard for medicine to put a stop to it. Because of this, NASA and CASIS have sponsored a study to take the research on the pathogen to the next level by sending it to space with help from SpaceX and its CEO, Elon Musk.

As per a report by Forbes, the team behind the study will focus on the activity of MRSA to gain a deeper understanding on how it mutates. This is useful in predicting how the pathogen would evolve, which could also give the researchers a view on what may happen to Earth as it does. The data to be gathered in space could then be used to possibly develop new drugs or improve treatments to effectively combat the infection someday.

Meanwhile, the latest development in fighting MRSA pointed that cleaning of surfaces is an effective method to reduce the existence of pathogens in hospitals. Cleaning the whole room would work to lessen MRSA existence but frequent wiping of touched surfaces could minimize contamination more than cleaning alone according to Infection Control Today. For this reason, researchers recommend target-cleaning of surfaces in addition to daily cleaning of the whole room to prevent transmission of MRSA to patients.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, hopefully, would be successful in launching MRSA into space to facilitate the study of the pathogen. Scientists, medical practitioners and researchers remain hopeful in finding the cure to the infection one day.