Half an hour later.

The virus is infecting and spreading rapidly.

Major cities have been wiped out, and there are not one in ten people who have not yet shown symptoms of infection. The streets are full of screaming zombies, and when they see a living person, they swarm and devour them alive.

At this time, the floating castle is quite stable.

Under the dual control of Hermione and the rhythm virus, there have been no major casualties.

It's just that the number of infected people is growing relatively fast. In the "Snake Eater" team alone, there were originally twenty-six humans, and under the continuous bubbles in the back row, only seventeen of them were left who had not completely become zombies.

Inside a medical school laboratory.

Professor Sun, who was subarmed, carefully picked up the reagent, poured it into the distillation flask, observed the change of information on the screen for a while, turned around, and looked at Chen Yu.

"Headmaster, can you give me some more muscle tissue from the infected?"

"No problem. Chen Yu nodded and snapped his fingers, "Ahead, take twenty steps forward." ”

The tall and thin boy immediately took a step and walked more than ten meters, and the line moved forward, revealing the infected people in the back row outside the window of the laboratory.

Holding a scalpel in his left hand and a glass plate in his right hand, Professor Sun stepped forward, first looked at a giant panda on the left, then at the infected person on the right, and asked, "Can you cut some of the panda's flesh for me?"

"Cut it casually, and break it down. ”

"Then you're welcome. Professor Sun licked his lips, raised his scalpel and stabbed the infected panda in the abdomen.

Onlookers "......"

"Whoosh!"

"Roar!"

With the crisp sound of muscle cutting, the giant panda was sliced open in pain and its abdomen flowed out of the pools of blackened mud.

"Infected fat?" Professor Sun's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly handed out the plate, collected the fat, and stored it in the refrigerator.

Then, using the same "butcher" technique, he collected two muscle tissues that infected humans.

"Come back, Headmaster. ”

"Okay, the one ahead, go around. ”

"Understood!" the tall and thin student nodded and turned around, dragging the long line, like a greedy snake, around the narrow corridor, sticking to the "tail" of the team, and leading Chen Yu to the laboratory window.

"I feel that this sand sculpture virus among you is more powerful than the mutant virus. Professor Sun said.

"It's a rhythm virus! It's not a sand sculpture!"

"Well, rhythm virus. Professor Sun took a step back, checked the protective clothing on his body for half a minute, and determined the location of the leakage, then sat down in his chair and said, "Some research results have been obtained on this mutant virus that swept the ball. Although it is still very simple, it is still okay to explain the mechanism of infection. ”

"That's enough. Chen Yu immediately adjusted the camera angle and left the C position to the other party.

"Do you want to start now?"

"Wait a minute. Before you get into that, I have a little question personally. ”

"Excuse me. ”

"Soon humanity will become extinct, and at most one day the experience of disaster will be over. Why do you have to collect so much lab material from infected people? You can't run out of them, do you?"

"I've been prepared for a long time. Professor Sun smiled, pointed to the closed protective suit on his body, and turned around to show the portable oxygen tank, "From the time when you broadcast the asteroid disaster live, I knew that the virus would also come, so 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 survive for a while in the last days and specialize in studying this virus?"

"Yes. Professor Sun nodded, "I am a virus researcher, and there will be considerable growth and harvest in studying this virus that has never appeared in human history." But isn't it a little uncivilized to describe it as a lingering breath?"

"Don't worry about the details. Chen Yu snorted and pointed to the camera, "Back to the topic." Tell the audience in front of the screen about the 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 minute, Professor Sun. Isn't it a bit 'too' to start? Why don't we move back in time?"

"Then move it to when I was a kid. I was born in 1962 in a small county town in Sichuan Province. My father was the local doctor in the city......"

"Move it to half an hour ago. Chen Yu interrupted, "Just talk about the virus, and I'll read the rest when you write your autobiography." ”

"Half an hour ago. "Professor Sun's regretful spread of hands" is okay. To put it simply, this virus is a variant of a common virus, but the mechanism of infection is far more ingenious than normal people can imagine. Being able to create this Resident Evil-like situation really broadened my horizons. ”

"Which one is the common virus?" asked the old professor, who was standing aside and had blackened blood vessels on his face.

"Bacteriophages. Professor Sun's eyes flashed with an inexplicable look.

"Bacteriophages?"

"That's right. It is the most indispensable virus in nature, especially for living things, bacteriophages. ”

What is a bacteriophage?

Same question.

One of the most common viruses that specializes in killing bacteria.

I've seen the pictures, and it looks like an alien spaceship.

+1, every time I see a bacteriophage, I think it's from an alien planet.

Aren't bacteriophages killing bacteria? How can they attack people?

Blinking his eyes, Chen Yu spoke, "Professor Sun, although I know a lot about bacteriophages, most of the viewers in the live broadcast room don't know. You explain in detail, what is a bacteriophage. ”

"Oh?" Professor Sun was surprised, "Principal, you know a lot about viruses too?"

"A little bit of it. Chen Yu said modestly.

"Tell me, what is a bacteriophage?"

“...... Who is that, and what is Professor Sun's annual bonus?"

"Don't, I won't ask. Professor Sun hurriedly waved his hand, "Let me tell you." ”

"Say it. ”

"Bacteriophages are viruses that attack bacteria. It is mainly parasitic in live bacteria and has strict host specificity. In layman's terms, they are the nemesis of bacteria. An indispensable and important role in the earth's biological world. Without this virus, at the rate at which bacteria reproduce, there would simply be no room for other organisms in the world. Therefore, bacteriophages are also one of the few viruses that are beneficial to humans. ”

"Is the source of this viral disaster bacteriophage?"

"Yes. ”

Chen Yu pondered, "Since it is a beneficial virus, why would it attack humans?"

"It didn't attack humans. Professor Sun stood up with a little excitement and danced with his hands, "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 is this happening?" Chen Yu looked around at the infected at the end of the line.

"It's become more aggressive. What was originally one tail suddenly became four. Within each tail, a separate piece of RNA genetic information is stored. This makes them infinitely more aggressive against bacteria. And after injecting genetic information into the bacteria, in order to continue their own survival, it will cleverly help the bacteria to speed up the reproduction in a short time. ”

As he spoke, Professor Sun picked up the tablet on the table and showed the pictures taken by the electron microscope, "Look here, there were originally a hundred bacteria, but after being invaded by a mutant bacteriophage, the number of bacteria can quickly expand to tens of millions. And where is the place where there are the most bacteria in both humans and animals?"

"Gut. ”

When the bacteria in it are unbalanced and divide wildly, they will soon burst through the capillaries of the intestines, flow into the blood circulation, and invade the liver, lungs, brain, and muscle tissue. At this time, under the control of the phage's RNA, the bacteria will release a special enzyme, which causes the error of the body's electron transfer chain, and the probability of handing over electrons to oxygen is greatly enhanced, so that oxygen is reduced to hydrogen peroxide. ”

"Hydrogen peroxide?"

It is the main substance of hydrogen peroxide. Everyone knows about hydrogen peroxide, right? Disinfectant water that bubbles up when applied to wounds. ”

"It kills!"

"Yes, it's very bactericidal. Professor Sun nodded, "This has led to a mass death of the microflora. Bacteriophages that are produced in batches will escape from the cell wall where the bacteria dissolve, infecting and multiplying more bacteria. Eventually, the human body collapses. ”

"Something is wrong here?" the old professor frowned, "the bacteriophage infects bacteria, multiplies bacteria, allows bacteria to secrete enzymes, stimulates the human body to produce hydrogen peroxide to sterilize, and then comes out again...... It's too much trouble. Wouldn't it make more sense to break through the cell wall like other viruses?"

"The most wonderful thing about it is here!" Professor Sun pointed to an infected person, "Didn't you notice that these zombies were spitting bubbles?"

"You mean......" The old professor was shocked.

"Yes. When hydrogen peroxide, or hydrogen peroxide, encounters blood, it undergoes a decomposition reaction, combining O atoms into oxygen, producing a large number of bubbles. Since these bloods are filled with dead bacteria, the amount of phages in the bubbles produced can be imagined. ”

Damn, it's amazing......

I understand. When a bubble bursts, it sprays the virus far away, and as soon as one virus is absorbed by the organism, more and more bubbles are created. Made, scalp tingling.

Bacteriophages cannot be missing in the earth's ecosphere, so there is no solution to this virus.

Meticulously calculated and interlocking, this virus simply cannot be born naturally.

In the future, if humans want to self-destruct, it may be enough to send a biologist......

The more advanced science and technology are, the more we can feel the fragility of human civilization.

"Alright, that's it. Let's wrap it up. Professor Sun looked at the camera and said solemnly, "Bacteriophages inject RNA into the bacteria to manipulate the bacteria to produce viruses and speed up division. ”

"Because bacteria are mostly in the stomach and intestines, and they need energy to divide, they will stimulate the brain-damaged creatures to produce hunger, which 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 comes out of the bloodstream, the blood comes into contact with oxygen in the air and proliferates large amounts of hydrogen peroxide. This hydrogen peroxide empties the bacteria and releases the virus, which in turn creates hundreds of millions of bubbles......"

"That's how the mutant virus works. ”

"Just a little bit of the phage gene is artificially modified, and an irreplaceable beneficial virus is made into an ecological devil. ”

"So in my opinion, what is the AI crisis, the asteroid impact...... They are far from the ferocity of the virus blessed by human nature, and there is no way back. ”

......

。