Half an hour later.
The infection and spread of the virus is very rapid.
All major cities were wiped out, and not even one out of ten people showed symptoms of infection. The streets are filled with roaring and shambling zombies, which swarm upon living people and devour them alive.
At this time, the floating castle was still stable.
Under the dual control of Hermione and the Rhythm Virus, there have been no major casualties yet.
It’s just that the number of infected people is growing faster. To put it simply, among the "Snake" team, there were originally twenty-six humans. Under the constant bubbles in the back row, only seventeen were left who had not completely turned into zombies.
Inside the medical school laboratory.
Professor Sun, who was fully armed, carefully picked up the reagent and poured it into the distillation bottle. After observing the changes in the information on the screen for a while, he turned around and looked at Chen Yu.
"Principal, can you give me some more muscle tissue from infected people?"
"No problem." Chen Yu nodded and snapped his fingers: "Those in front, walk forward twenty steps."
The tall and lanky boy immediately took a step forward and walked more than ten meters. The team moved forward, and outside the window of the laboratory, the infected people in the back row were revealed.
Professor Sun held the scalpel in his left hand and the glass plate in his right hand. He walked forward, first looked at the giant panda on the left, then at the infected person on the right, and asked: "Can the meat of that panda be given to anyone?" Shall I cut some?"
"Cut it as you like, it's all broken down."
"Then you're welcome." Professor Sun licked his lips, raised the scalpel and stabbed the infected panda's abdomen.
Onlookers: “…”
"Whoosh!"
"Roar!"
With the crisp sound of muscle cutting, the giant panda's abdomen was cut open in pain, and pools of black mud-like material flowed out from the inside.
"Infected fat?" Professor Sun's eyes lit up, and he quickly handed over the plate, collected the fat, and stored it in the refrigerator.
Then, he used the same "butcher" technique to collect two infected human muscle tissues.
"Come back, principal."
"Okay, those in front, go around and go back."
"Understood!" The tall and thin student nodded and turned around, dragging the long team like a greedy snake in a circle in the narrow corridor. Following the "tail" of the team, he led Chen Yu to the laboratory window. forward.
"I feel that the sand sculpture virus among you is more powerful than the mutated virus." Professor Sun said.
"It's a rhythm virus! It's not a fool!"
"Okay, Rhythm Virus." Professor Sun took a step back, checked the protective clothing on his body for half a minute to make sure there was no leakage, then sat on the chair and said: "Some research results have been obtained about this mutated virus sweeping the world. Although it is still very superficial, it is still possible to explain its infection mechanism.”
"That's enough." Chen Yu immediately adjusted the camera angle, leaving the C position for the opponent.
"Start now?"
"Wait a minute. Before you explain, I have a small personal question."
"Excuse me."
"Soon all mankind will become extinct, and the disaster experience will end in one day at most. Why do you still need to collect so many experimental materials from infected people? You can't use them all, right?"
"I have been prepared for a long time." Professor Sun smiled, pointed to the fully enclosed protective suit on his body, and then turned around to show a portable oxygen tank: "From the time when you, the principal, broadcast the asteroid disaster live, I knew that viruses can also When the meeting comes, I changed my equipment in advance. So I should still be healthy now and there is no possibility of infection."
"Oh!" Chen Yu suddenly said, "Do you want to linger in the apocalypse for a while and specialize in studying this virus?"
"Yes." Professor Sun nodded: "I am a virus researcher. Studying this kind of virus that has never appeared in human history will bring considerable growth and gain. But if you use the word "living to survive" to describe it, doesn't it sound a bit unreasonable? civilization?"
"Don't worry about the details." Chen Yu laughed and pointed at the camera: "Back to the topic. Let's tell the audience in front of the screen about this virus."
"Where to start?"
"Just start from the beginning."
"Oh." Professor Sun nodded again and cleared his throat: "In the early universe, gravity grabbed atomic clouds and shaped them into stars and galaxies. And the formation of stars is bound to..."
Chen Yu: "...wait...wait a moment, Professor Sun. Isn't it a little too 'too' to start? How about we move the time back?"
"Let's move it back to my childhood. In 1962, I was born in a small county in Sichuan Province. My father was a local doctor in the city... "
"Move it to half an hour ago." Chen Yu interrupted: "Just talk about the virus. I will read the rest when you write your autobiography."
"Half an hour ago." Professor Sun spread his hands regretfully: "Okay. To put it simply, this virus is a variant of a common virus, but the ingenious infection mechanism is far beyond normal people's imagination. It can cause this kind of biochemical The crisis situation really broadened my horizons.”
"Common viruses? Which one?" asked the old professor standing aside, the blood vessels on his face completely black.
"Bacteriophage." Professor Sun's eyes flashed with an inexplicable look.
"Phage?"
"That's right. They are the most indispensable viruses in nature, especially for living things, phages."
[What is a bacteriophage?]
[The same question.]
[One of the most common viruses, specially designed to kill bacteria.]
[I have seen pictures, it looks like an alien spacecraft.]
[+1, every time I see phages, I feel like they are from aliens.]
[Don’t phages kill bacteria? Why are you attacking people?]
After blinking, Chen Yu said: "Professor Sun, although I know a lot about phages, most of the viewers in the live broadcast room don't know. Please explain in detail what phages are."
"Oh?" Professor Sun was surprised: "Principal, you also know a lot about viruses?"
"I know a little bit about it," Chen Yu said modestly.
"Then tell me, what is a phage?"
"...Who is that? How much is Professor Sun's annual bonus?"
"No, no, I won't ask anymore." Professor Sun waved his hand quickly: "Let me do the talking."
"Say it."
"Bacteriophages are viruses that attack bacteria. They mainly live in living bacteria and have strict host specificity. Generally speaking, they are the nemesis of bacteria. They are indispensable and important players in the biological world of the earth. If there were no such viruses, there would be no way to survive. At the rate at which bacteria reproduce, there is simply no room for other organisms to survive in the world. Therefore, phages are also one of the few viruses that are beneficial to humans."
“Is the source of this viral disaster the phage?”
"right."
Chen Yu thought thoughtfully: "Since it is a beneficial virus, why does it attack humans?"
"It did not attack humans." Professor Sun stood up with excitement and danced: "This is the subtlety! From the beginning to the end, the target of the phage attack is not humans! It is still attacking bacteria!"
"It's just attacking bacteria. Why does it cause this situation?" Chen Yu looked around at the infected person at the end of the team.
"Its aggressiveness has become stronger. The original one tail mutated into four. Each tail contains a separate piece of RNA genetic information. This makes them more aggressive against bacteria countless times. And in After the genetic information is injected into the bacteria, in order to continue their survival, it will cleverly help the bacteria speed up their reproduction in a short period of time."
As he spoke, Professor Sun picked up the tablet computer on the table and showed the pictures taken by the electron microscope: "Look here, there were originally a hundred bacteria. After being invaded by a mutated phage, the number of bacteria quickly expanded to Tens of millions of levels. And whether humans or animals, where are the most bacteria in the body?"
"Intestine."
"Yes, it's the intestines! When the bacteria inside divide unbalancedly, they will soon burst through the capillaries in the intestines, flow into the blood circulation, and invade the liver, lungs, brain, and muscle tissue. At this time, the bacteria in the phage Under the control of RNA, a special enzyme will be released, causing errors in the human body's electron transfer chain, greatly increasing the probability of transferring electrons to oxygen, so that oxygen is reduced to hydrogen peroxide."
"hydrogen peroxide?"
"It's the main substance of hydrogen peroxide. Everyone knows hydrogen peroxide, right? It's a disinfectant that bubbles up when applied to wounds."
"It kills germs!"
"Yes, the bactericidal ability is very strong." Professor Sun nodded: "This leads to the death of a large area of bacterial colonies. The phages produced in batches will escape from the dissolved cell walls of the bacteria and infect and reproduce more bacteria. Bacteria. Ultimately causing the body to collapse."
"Something is wrong here?" The old professor frowned: "Bacteriophage infects bacteria, reproduces them, causes the bacteria to secrete enzymes, stimulates the human body to produce hydrogen peroxide for sterilization, and then comes out on its own... It's too troublesome. It doesn't break the cell wall like other viruses. Is it more reasonable?”
"The most amazing thing about it is here!" Professor Sun pointed at an infected person: "Didn't you notice that these zombies are spitting bubbles?"
"You mean..." The old professor was shocked.
"Yes. When hydrogen peroxide or peroxide meets blood, a decomposition reaction will occur, combining O atoms into oxygen, producing a large number of bubbles. Since the blood is filled with dead bacteria, the bubbles generated contain phages. It’s conceivable.”
[Fuck, that’s amazing... ]
[I see. When the bubble bursts, the virus will be sprayed far away. As long as one virus is absorbed by the organism, more and more bubbles will be created. Damn, my scalp is numb.]
[Bacteriophages are indispensable in the earth’s ecosystem, so there is no solution to this virus.]
[The calculations are meticulous and interconnected. It is impossible for this virus to be born naturally.]
[If humans in the future want to self-destruct, it may be enough to send out a biologist...]
[The more advanced technology is, the more we feel the fragility of human civilization.]
"Okay, that's the end of the explanation. Let's make a summary." Professor Sun looked at the camera and said seriously: "Bacteriophage injects RNA into the bacteria to control the bacteria to produce viruses and accelerate division."
"Since most bacteria are found in the intestines and stomach, they need energy to divide, which will stimulate hunger in organisms with damaged brains. This is the origin of the so-called zombies. At the same time, the bubbles spit out increase the external infectivity."
"When an infected person is injured and bleeds out, the blood will come into contact with oxygen in the air and produce a large amount of hydrogen peroxide. This hydrogen peroxide kills bacteria and releases the virus, which in turn generates billions of bubbles... "
"This is how mutant viruses work."
"Just by artificially modifying a little bit of the phage's genes, an irreplaceable beneficial virus was turned into a devil that destroyed the entire ecology."
"So in my opinion, any artificial intelligence crisis, asteroid impact... are far less ferocious than viruses with the blessing of human nature, and they leave no escape route."
…
(End of chapter)