"The ability to infect and bind other organisms to continue to grow is the main manifestation of the living state of the banyan tree. To what extent it can eventually grow, we don't know."
Professor Qin continued to explain to the audience, "When we put the banyan tree in the vacuum laboratory and take out almost all the air, the banyan tree will die in about half an hour. After observation, we found that all of its The heart stopped beating, the blood and black fluid in the whole body stopped circulating, and the appearance of a corpse began to appear, just like after the life activities of ordinary organisms have terminated, they need to be preserved in formalin. This is its dead state.”
"In the dead state, its black liquid is inactive and non-infectious. When a creature approaches it, it can still have an unconditioned reflex, which is the sound you just saw. We use x-rays It was observed through clairvoyance that the sound was squeezed by multiple organs in its throat, and the spoken words were inferred to be the last words of the deceased before losing their self-consciousness. When their eyes are closed, the reflection will end. As for the principle of this unconditioned reflex, it remains to be studied.”
The relevant X-ray perspective video was played on the big screen, and everyone could clearly see how the vocal cords, trachea, and esophagus of the banyan tree were squeezed strangely.
The video has a caption that reads "The tenth day of death". It has been such a long time, and the tree in front of me has been soaked in formalin, so it can still have unconditioned reflexes...
Gu Jun remembered an animal experiment he had done in class, and said to others: "Do you think this looks like the scratching reflex of a frog?"
When Cai Zixuan and Xu Hai heard this, they immediately felt that they had grasped the point!
"Like, very similar." Wang Ruoxiang rolled her eyes, thinking divergently: "Will the black liquid make the skin function as a receptor? As soon as you approach, it may be stimulated by your breathing gas. The afferent and efferent nerves are still alive, so this reflex can occur."
"I think so too." Gu Jun nodded thinkingly, "This is indeed another creature."
The scratching reflex is a tough experiment. They first cut off the head of the experimental frog and removed the brain. At this time, the frog is of course dead. But in a short period of time, when they smeared the frog's abdominal skin with a piece of paper dipped in low-concentration sulfuric acid, the frog would use its hind legs to scratch the smeared area, just like a corpse.
This is because the frog also has a nerve center in the undamaged spinal cord, and there are multiple reflex arcs in the body, which will reflex when stimulated.
How the banyan tree can still howl after death may belong to this nature. It's just that the "short term" after its death is very long for human beings, and the external stimulus needed for reflection is the approach of living things.
"Scratching reflex." Listening to their discussion, Professor Gu hummed, and said a little cold joke: "Just now I was excited that there are really ghosts in the world."
Because Professor Qin said that this was an unconditioned reflex, Gu Jun was not the only one who thought of the scratching reflex, and many teachers and students murmured and discussed it.
Everyone was still amazed, but at last they could use modern medicine to understand that weird thing, with less fear and more shock.
At this time, Sun Yuheng from the Qingyun University team raised his hand and asked, "Professor Qin, what is the relationship between the pathogen you mentioned and the banyan tree? Is it a virus? How does it spread?"
These three consecutive questions are also what every teacher and student present wants to know, especially the first question.
It is a pity that Professor Qin replied: "I am sorry that I can't say more about the pathogen. This is a virus. Fortunately, we have found that there are only two ways for it to spread. One is the biological contact with the banyan tree of the source of the disease, and the other is the banyan tree in the period of death. The patient had direct skin contact with active black liquor."
After hearing the answers to the last two questions, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, so as long as the banyan trees that caused the disease were extinguished and the patients were isolated and controlled, the situation would not be too bad.
The most feared are viruses like SARS that can be transmitted through close-range respiratory droplets, or even Ebola virus that can be transmitted through the air.
In contrast, although the banyan disease is a bit terrifying, it is only those viruses that can break out like the Black Death plague in the Middle Ages in Europe.
Many teachers and students have settled down. Human beings have defeated SARS and controlled Ebola, and they are not afraid of a foreign disease!
"What we have to face in the future may not be just banyan disease." Professor Qin's calm and solemn words brought them back to the brink of hell, "You all have to be mentally prepared, this may be just the beginning, rather than an accident."
Just the beginning? Everyone's hearts are sinking...
"I believe everyone understands the purpose of this competition." Professor Qin paused, "Some things are not suitable for the public to know immediately, or even never need to know, otherwise it will cause some unnecessary troubles. Panic, the entire social order will be affected. So the country has our secret department. But now... I can say that the situation is changing, and now our work needs more people to operate."
Everyone heard the important point again, the situation is changing!
Presumably, they let hundreds of them know the existence of the banyan disease in such a blatant manner. Although there is no mobile phone to take pictures of the evidence, even if they spread it on the Internet, there is no picture and no truth. It is regarded as a fabricated story and deleted in seconds.
But this kind of posture, so that they have a certain degree of knowledge, really needs them to participate, even if they don't directly join the secret department.
Sure enough, Professor Qin went on to say: "It's a pity that not everyone among you has the qualifications we value. Just now is the first assessment, and about one tenth of them can pass. These students will be able to conduct The next assessment. Others can participate in ordinary skills projects, the state has other arrangements for you, it is to act as a bridge between our department and ordinary hospitals."
The old man said very solemnly: "So it can be said that you have all been hired. The country needs you and more talents. This kind of selection competition will not be the only one, and your upward path will not be blocked. ,Try Harder."
Professor Qin's eyes gradually turned to the seat of Dongda University, looking at Gu Jun in the middle and back row, and said: "As for our department, the qualifications we need, one is will, and the other is medical technology, both of which are indispensable. Okay. Alright, let's all rest for a while."
Gu Jun thought, the situation must have been quite serious. The matter of Longkan, Laisheng Company suddenly started to move, and the disease of Yirong...
These should not be separate events, but have a connection that he doesn't know yet.
After the words were heard over there, Professor Qin walked towards the aisle with all the judges, and the staff finally pushed the big iron cage back.
The thing disappeared in the arena, and the air suddenly became fresher, and the teachers and students felt that the dark clouds above their heads had also disappeared.
Sometimes ignorance really is a blessing.
Most of the students know whether they have passed this round of assessment. Some people understand that they really don’t have that kind of qualifications. If they stand next to the banyan tree like Gu Jun just now, their legs are so frightened, they don’t want to join that secret department even if they have the chance.
Some people hope, long for themselves to enter the next round, to enter that mysterious world. Gu Jun is one of them.
After a while, the shortlist was announced on the big screen, and the names of the students were listed on it. Hundreds of people in the audience watched intently.