Chapter 1020: Silicon-Based Protein Never Seen Before

Chapter 1020 Silicon-based proteins never seen before~

"When did you take a shower last time?"

When Liu Yang heard this question, he was stunned for a moment before reacting. After thinking for a while, he answered: "The day before yesterday, I did personal cleaning after handing over the shift with Xinlin in the afternoon of the day before yesterday."

Unlike on Earth, water resources on spacecraft are very precious, and astronauts will have many various problems in the process of taking a shower, so the frequency of taking a shower is not that high.

When the Tiangong space station performed space missions in the past, they generally did not take a shower, or took a shower once a week or more than ten days apart.

And unlike taking a shower on Earth, their shower in space is more like a sponge bath than a shower.

It mainly uses special shower gel to clean the body.

After all, in a weightless environment, it is almost impossible to take a shower like on Earth. The micro-water droplets floating in the air will enter the lungs with the human body's breathing, and will also cause certain damage to the spacecraft.

"Two days ago"

Hearing this time point, Zhai Zhigang thought for a while and said, "Take a shower, clean your body, and then record your skin condition."

After a slight pause, he spread his hands, and there were spots of skin debris on his thumb and index finger.

Although it looked like the dandruff that naturally fell off during the body's metabolism, Zhai Zhigang keenly noticed a hint of abnormality.

Normally, two or three days will not allow the human body to metabolize such skin debris, unless it is sick, otherwise it will be a little greasy at most.

Like the situation that Liu Yang is in front of him, he vaguely feels that something is wrong.

On the opposite side, Liu Yang nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go clean it up later, and then record how long it will take for this kind of debris to appear."

If it was in the past, when performing tasks on the Tiangong space station, it might be a bit troublesome to clean the body completely.

However, after the development of the new space shuttle, taking a shower in space has become much more convenient.

The rotating shower device developed by the Aerospace Group can effectively solve the problem of difficulty in taking a shower in space and encounter various troubles.

However, considering that the amount of water resources in space is limited after all, although the water resources for their showers will be recycled, they will not take showers so frequently when performing tasks.

Generally speaking, taking a shower every three to five days is enough to completely clean the body.

After all, there is very little dust in space, and it is under zero gravity conditions. Only when astronauts have done a lot of exercise or carried out high-intensity extravehicular operations will there be more sweat.

Taking a shower is just to clean up the body's metabolism and sweat, etc.

Zhai Zhigang nodded, and seemed to remember something again, and said quickly: "Wait a minute, I will collect some of these debris on your arm and make a slice sample for observation."

As he said, he quickly propped up his body and floated towards the locker on the side.

After a while, he carefully scraped some skin debris from Liu Yang's arm with a scraper and put it in a glass container for preservation.

If there is really a problem, then they should be able to observe something from these skin scraps.

Of course, he hopes that everything is normal.

After all, what they are facing now are microorganisms and bacteria from outside the earth. Once there is a harmful infection, the consequences are unpredictable.

After arranging Liu Yang, Zhai Zhigang looked at Jiang Xinlin on the side and said, "Xinlin, roll up your sleeves for me to see."

Apart from Liu Yang, Jiang Xinlin has the biggest temperature fluctuation among the four of them.

On the side, Jiang Xinlin came over and frowned and said, "Captain, do you suspect that our infection symptoms are only beginning to appear now?"

He just saw the dots of skin scraps on Liu Yang's arm. If it is normal, these are indeed nothing, but the key is that they are not normal now.

Under the premise of being infected with Martian microorganisms, this change is naturally worrying.

Zhai Zhigang's face was a little heavy: "It's hard to say, it's not sure what the situation is now."

At least in his opinion, Liu Yang's situation is indeed not right.

Jiang Xinlin nodded, rolled up the sleeves of his space suit, and exposed his muscular arms.

Zhai Zhigang leaned over and took a closer look, confirming that Jiang Xinlin's arms did not have the skin debris that Liu Yang had.

This made him relax a little.

If Jiang Xinlin also had this abnormal condition, then they might be in real danger this time.

Of course, it is also possible that there is no big problem.

After all, judging from Liu Yang's current physical condition, all her physical indicators are currently normal.

But it is this abnormality in the normal that makes him feel more and more that something is wrong.

These microorganisms from Mars may not be as simple as imagined, nor do they seem to be simply symbiotic or parasitic on them.

At the same time, on the other side.

Earth, Jinling, China.

A press conference was held at the subordinate space base, publicly admitting that the four astronauts may have been infected with microorganisms and bacteria from Mars, and announcing corresponding resettlement measures, as well as opening the research on Martian microorganisms to the entire international community, and welcoming other countries to participate.

Almost on the same day, governments from various countries contacted the outer suburbs of China and the Xinghai Research Institute through various channels, hoping to arrange for personnel to go to the moon to participate in the research on Martian microorganisms.

Xu Chuan ignored these applications and left them all to the Space Administration and the outer suburbs of Xinmen for processing. They had more complete and proficient systems and processing methods.

He is currently in Xia Shu Space Base, flipping through a piece of data that was transmitted back from the Hanhai space shuttle half an hour ago.

On the way back from Mars, Liu Yang, the only woman among the four astronauts, experienced new changes in her physical condition.

However, research in the biological field is not his expertise. Even in the Xinghai Research Institute, there are no relevant departments or research laboratories.

In addition, what they have to face now is not only microorganisms, but also alien microorganisms that are rarely encountered for the first time in the world. This kind of unpopularity has reached the extreme. It can even be said that there are few people in the world studying this field. It is really very surprising. Headache.

However, when faced with an unknown thing, everyone’s understanding is actually similar.

The scientific research experience of researchers in the field of microorganisms may not necessarily be of much reference value for the study of Martian microorganisms.

After all, this is life on another planet, and the environment they live in is completely different from the ecosphere on Earth.

Therefore, these microorganisms from Mars may evolve or possess a set of life mechanisms that are completely different from life on Earth.

For example, among the three microorganisms discovered by four astronauts on Mars, one of the larger microorganisms is covered with a silicon-based carapace. Based on the existing data, no one can determine whether it is carbon-based. Life is still silicon-based life.

Of course, when scholars in professional fields face problems in such cutting-edge fields, stronger professional knowledge still plays a great role.

At least it can help them make some necessary judgments and understandings.

In the office, Professor Chen Yunze, a microbial medicine expert from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, held a latest research report in his hand, frowning and thinking about something.

After taking a long breath, he put down the documents in his hands and looked at Xu Chuan, who was sitting across from the sofa. With a solemn expression on his face, he said with some concern: "The situation may be a little bad."

"you say."

Xu Chuan said calmly: "What's the problem?"

Whenever there is a major event, he must be calm. Faced with something like this that may endanger the entire human race, all he can do is to maintain his composure and try his best to appease the military's morale.

Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!

After all, if he was in chaos, the people below would probably be even more confused and fearful.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Yunze said: "The latest data fed back by the astronauts on the Hanhai space shuttle shows that astronaut Liu Yang's skin has abnormal metabolism."

"They conducted cross-section experiments and tests on the metabolized skin debris. Judging from the reported data, the silicon content in Liu Yang's skin debris far exceeded the normal value."

"And judging from the protein analysis results, a never-before-seen silicon protein structure appeared in these skin debris."

"I suspect that the Martian microorganisms in Liu Yang's body have participated in her body metabolism."

"Never-before-seen silicon protein structure?"

Hearing this answer, Xu Chuan frowned and continued to ask: "Is the problem serious?"

"It's not certain yet."

Chen Yunze shook his head and said: "Silicon is one of more than 60 kinds of nutrients necessary for the human body, especially playing a key role in bone health and overall function."

"But it mainly exists in the human body in water-soluble forms, such as metasilicic acid (H2SIO3). Silicon in human blood mainly exists in the form of silicic acid and is not bound to proteins."

"Silicon in the human body mainly exists in connective tissue. Generally, about 50% of the silicon ingested into the human body will be excreted in urine. The rest will be absorbed into hair, eyebrows, nails, bones, joints, etc. body structure."

"But from a physiological point of view, it is extremely unlikely for silicon to appear in human skin. Even if it does appear, it is usually combined with mucopolysaccharides and then further combined with proteins."

"As for these skin debris on Liu Yang's body, I preliminarily confirmed a silicone protein substance that is directly combined with protein."

"Judging from the current analysis and testing reports, its main component is a combination of silicate and protein. The specific components will need to be detected through detailed instruments after she returns to the moon."

"This is not good news overall."

"Because normally silicon surfaces are extremely lacking in surface adsorption, so they don't adsorb proteins, at least in the human body."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan frowned and asked, "Will this have any impact on Liu Yang's body?"

Chen Yunze thought for a while and said: "According to the test data they transmitted back, Liu Yang's metabolism data is at least three times faster than that of humans under normal conditions."

"Of course, I am referring to the skin on the body surface here, because I have not seen corresponding data for other parts."

"Judging from relevant data, the content of silicon in the skin produced by these metabolisms seriously exceeds the standard, which means that she may be at risk of being deficient in silicates that are rapidly metabolized in her body."

"I'm not a professional doctor, and I don't know very well what diseases will occur if the human body lacks silicon."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Ming, a professor of medicine at the side.

Zhao Ming didn't waste any time and said directly: "Silicon is one of the trace elements necessary for the human body. It is a very safe substance. It does not react with the human immune system, will not be swallowed by cells, and will not breed bacteria or Reacts with chemicals."

"The human body cannot synthesize silicon, so it must obtain it from food. If there is a lack of silicon, the main symptoms include easy breakage of hair and nails, loss of luster of the skin, and slow growth."

"At the same time, silicon can participate in the calcification of human bones and play a role in the initial stage of calcification. When the human body is deficient in silicon, hair and nails will easily break."

"At present, it is not certain what impact these Martian microorganisms will have on Liu Yang. If it is serious, I am even worried that these Martian microorganisms will decompose the bones, nails, hair and other structures in her body."

"Once this symptom occurs, it may lead to nail and hair loss, fractures, joint damage, etc."

"It is recommended to strengthen observation in this area in the future, and at the same time try to avoid heavy physical work, collisions, etc.,"

"In addition, based on the abnormal silicon content metabolized by Liu Yang's skin, it is recommended that she supplement silicon in an appropriate amount, at least based on the excess silicon metabolized by the skin."

"only."

After hesitating, he looked at Xu Chuan and then said: "I don't know if the Hanhai space shuttle carries food rich in silicon."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan quickly asked: "What are the foods rich in silicon?"

Zhao Ming quickly replied: "Kelp, mushrooms, eggs, oats, animal offal, seafood (mainly shellfish, sea cucumbers, squid, lobster, etc."

Xu Chuan nodded, breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "The quantities of kelp and mushrooms carried on the space shuttle are relatively small, but the quantities of eggs, meat and seafood are sufficient. Even if the amount of food they consume every day is doubled, times, enough to support them until they reach the moon."

Zhao Ming also breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly: "Academician Xu, please prepare a food list for the astronauts. After I do an analysis, I will provide a targeted food list to enhance the intake." Diet List.”

Xu Chuan: "Okay, I'll have someone send it to you right away. Sorry to bother you."

"No, no, this is what I should do." Zhao Ming said quickly.

Xu Chuan nodded and continued to ask: "Also, let me ask again, if Liu Yang's situation continues or worsens, what may happen to her body?"

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