Sterilization and complete removal of bacteria using atmospheric pressure plasmas

Summary form only given. A microorganism is assumed to be dead when it does not exhibit all of the following phenomena: metabolism, homeostasis; response to stimuli; adaptation; growth; reproduction; and hierarchical levels of organization. Labeling a microorganism as "dead" is not a sufficient description of its ability to influence neighboring microorganisms. There are intermediate stages to a microorganism\´s existence. A bacteria\´s ability to conjugate leads to the possibility that genetic information can be transferred from a harmful to a harmless bacteria cell. Furthermore, forward and reverse contamination may result in extraterrestrial bacteria transformation. For these reasons, the prevention of extraterrestrial bacteria conjugation and transformation is an issue which must be solved. Complete sterilization of bacteria and complete removal of its genetic material is a necessary avenue to solve this problem. In the presented work, the goal is to achieve surface sterilization of spacecraft materials with complete disintegration of spores and bacteria, to include Escherichia coli, Bacillus Subtilis, and Deinococcus radiodurans. Sterilization by dielectric barrier discharge and DC glow discharge has been successfully demonstrated to lyse cells, and achieve complete surface removal of Escherichia coli and Deinococcus radiodurans.