Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Yesterday, the United Nations held an emergency meeting in New York to determine the world’s response to this crisis. A research team composed of experts from multiple countries would be stationed on the Moon Palace within a week.
“On the other hand, the World Health Organization officially named the bacterium ‘X-0172’.
“Brought to you, by China Southern News.”
The Mars bacterium news segment was over.
Lu Zhou sat at his table, enjoying his breakfast. He looked at the calendar on his phone and muttered to himself, “87 days left.”
Time is running out…
Lu Zhou picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. He wiped his face with a paper towel and then stood up.
“Xiao Ai, straighten up the kitchen for me please.”
The quad-rotor drone flew into the kitchen.
[Okay Master, leave it to me! ٩ (•̤̀ᴗ•̤́๑) o]
Lu Zhou put on a coat and called Wang Peng.
Soon after, a black sedan parked outside his mansion. The black sedan took him to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
Strictly speaking, biological research wasn’t a strong suit for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
Especially when it came to the area of astrobiology. Not only were there few astrobiology experts at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, but there were also few astrobiology experts in the country.
However, sometimes research didn’t have to be done by an expert. After all, when it came to cutting-edge newly-born research fields, the difference between professionals and normal researchers was small.
So far, the expert in microbiology was Professor Liu Zuobing, who was in charge of the frozen dormancy project.
Although his main research direction was cryobiology, he often studied cell samples collected in extreme environments.
After all, the X-0172 bacteria were also collected in extreme environments…
After Lu Zhou got off the car, he went straight to the Institute of Biology building.
When he arrived at the laboratory, Professor Liu Zuobing and several of his students were looking at something in front of an electron microscope.
Lu Zhou didn’t want to interrupt their research. He quietly waited for them to finish, then decided to speak to Professor Liu.
“Has the sample arrived?”
“It has.” Professor Liu Zuobing looked at the slide under the microscope and said, “I bet this is the world’s most expensive feces.”
Lu Zhou joked, “Also the world’s most dangerous feces.”
Professor Liu Zuobing waved his hands and said, “Don’t worry, the samples that arrived on Earth have been carefully disinfected. If we follow safety procedures, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Even though Professor Liu didn’t sound convincing, Lu Zhou knew that Professor Liu wouldn’t make any silly mistakes.
Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking an important question, “Is there any progress in the research?”
“There is a little progress.” Professor Liu Zuobing took off his glasses and said, “According to the latest research published by Leslie and Professor Zhao Shuxuan, we can confirm that the Ares program colonists have sleepiness symptoms. This is likely caused by the amino acid-like derivatives secreted by the X-0172 bacteria.”
“Amino acid-like derivatives?” Lu Zhou frowned and continued to ask, “Is the problem serious?”
“The problem is not serious, but this kind of amino acid derivative is very interesting… It might even benefit the host.”
Lu Zhou: “Benefit? Can you elaborate?”
“Active dormancy,” Professor Liu suddenly said. He explained, “Let’s assume that Mars once had a rich atmosphere, a protective magnetic field, and a variety of ecosystems. When severe geological changes occur, the pheromones released by this bacteria when producing spores will most likely help the host. Similar to hibernation.”
Helping the host survive through harsh weather conditions was a survival tactic for the bacteria. Therefore, the parasite formed a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with its host.
Professor Liu Zuobing paused for a second and looked at Lu Zhou.
“So far, other than the drowsiness symptoms, we have not found any other health effects. We have reasons to believe that the secretion of the pheromones belongs to an active defense mechanism of the bacteria. In this state of bacterium-induced dormancy, the host’s tolerance to extreme environments might be greatly improved. The host could also require very little energy for basic survival functions.”
Lu Zhou said, “What is the pheromone-releasing mechanism?”
“That’s the problem, we haven’t fully figured out its mechanism yet.” Professor Liu Zuobing sighed and said, “There are currently two speculations. One is that when the host creates an immune response to foreign bacteria, the bacteria are forced to produce spores for their own protection, thus forcing the release of the active dormancy pheromone.
“The other possibility is that, under certain external physical conditions, the bacteria could determine that the host is in an extremely harsh environment, and they would then actively release dormancy pheromone spores to protect the host.”
Even though drowsiness wasn’t fatal, no one wanted to be chronically fatigued.
So far, one of the three colonists had experienced drowsiness.
If a third of the human population had chronic fatigue, the impact on society would be unimaginable.
Lu Zhou asked, “Which one are you more inclined to believe?”
Professor Liu Zuobing: “I’m leaning toward the first possibility.”
Lu Zhou said, “Which means there might be X-0172 antibodies inside the drowsy patient?”
Professor Liu Zuobing nodded cautiously.
“I don’t know, but I think so!”
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