Mysterious creature sightings

"If the mechanism of action is not that of Ophiocordyceps hemiformis, what would it be like?" Ling Jiangyue, as an audience member, asked the question in a very participatory manner.

"Among the discovered organisms, there are only a few parasites that can control the host's behavior. In addition to Ophiocordyceps hemiformis, there are also iron worms that can forge host protein molecules and mix them into the host's nervous system. It will guide the host closer to the water source, and then Transmitted to the next host through water sources.”

"Where is the original host?"

"Drowned."

"Ah..." It was a good idea to kill people. She thought seriously about what good methods she could learn to deal with people in illegal organizations.

"Any more?"

"There are also Toxoplasma gondii and Bidisk fluke." Lin Zheng rarely did science popularization in class, but he was not impatient at all. He told her while putting on gloves to monitor the brain waves of infected people.

"The former can hijack the host's dendritic cells after infecting small animals such as mice and ignore the host's immune system. It can even break through the blood-brain barrier, control the host's dopamine secretion mechanism, and reward the host with dopamine for risky behaviors."

Lin Jia worked as an assistant and added when handing him something: "As the saying goes, it is to make the host die, making it easier for them to be captured by higher-level creatures such as cats, so that Toxoplasma gondii can continue to parasitize on various hosts. . Because of this characteristic, Toxoplasma gondii is very popular among dangerous elements. In all likelihood, the perverted scientists in the movies you watch have studied it."

Ling Jiangyue's brows raised slightly.

Controlling dopamine secretion, isn't this her comrade?

Did that person use the results of Toxoplasma gondii research on her back then? It was probably less successful because her control over dopamine was not as good as her control over serotonin.

Low dopamine is related to depression, schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease, but it does not need to control the organism to develop Parkinson's disease. It only needs to control the decrease in serotonin to cause problems with their mood, sleep and appetite.

Oh, she herself was treated this way, because that person believed that schizophrenia was the only way to be a genius.

He was probably parasitized by Toxoplasma gondii, and his brain was so diseased.

The utensils made a crisp sound when they were touched. Ling Jiangyue came to his senses and stood obediently in front of the experimental bed and continued to listen to Lin Zheng's popular science.

"The two-disc flukes are a little simpler. They parasitize on the eyestalk of the snail and form a hatching sac, so that the snail's tentacles are filled with larvae, forming a wriggling bulge, like a constantly beating caterpillar."

"Then the snail's brain is controlled to make it move faster, exposed to the sight of natural enemies, eaten by birds, and continued to parasitize birds. The feces of birds carrying eggs are eaten by other snails, and the snails are in turn eaten by birds. Eat it and reincarnate as a parasite."

This doesn't sound simple.

Ling Jiangyue pointed to Zheng Linlin's bulging eyeballs and said, "It's a bit similar to their symptoms. Could it be that they were parasitized by double-disc flukes at the same time?"

"The human nervous system and immune system are many times stronger than those of snails. According to common sense, they will not be controlled by parasitism, and the possibility is not high if they are too similar." Lin Zheng opened Zheng Linlin's eyelids, and the microscope expanded the picture. .

"It looks like unhatched peanut buds... It really tests one's cognitive ability. My language system is going to be messed up, and it looks like a hairy egg." Lin Jia said.

Ling Jiangyue stared at the peanut bud, and after a while his face wrinkled into a rag.

"Are you sure that the double-disc fluke can't infect human eyes? I saw a group of small gray dots inside, which are still moving. Maybe after a while, their eyes will turn into bulging, wriggling caterpillars."

"Can you see it?" Lin Zheng raised his head from under the microscope.

"Yes, it's like a deflated balloon containing a group of crystal balls soaking in hair." She tilted her head and thought for a moment. Lin Jia: "...your metaphor is quite vivid."

It's also quite cute. The creature horror theme instantly becomes cute yet scary, which is called Japanese style.

Lin Zheng didn't express his opinion. He looked at her for a while and then touched her forehead with the back of his clean hand.

She couldn't tell what he meant by his behavior, but she happened to be able to see his mood changes through hormones and neurotransmitters, which was probably a kind of... comfort?
  Why are you comforting her? Isn't it the eleven infected people lying in a row who should be comforted in the laboratory?

After staying with him for a long time, Ling Jiangyue began to suspect that there was something wrong with human beings more frequently. Some inexplicable behaviors and emotions would only increase the body's energy consumption, and then die two minutes early in his later years.

But they do it anyway.

Lin Zheng didn't know what she was thinking. He had already separated from his emotions and turned to talk to Lin Jia about business:

"Have you done a scraping examination and fungal culture? Also try polymerase chain reaction and chitin identification. It is best to directly identify what this mutant strain is."

Lin Jia: "The scraping is waiting for the Gram stain results to come out. But I don't think this means much. I can only know that there is indeed a fungal infection. If not, just cut out the tissue for corneal biopsy. There are several people whose eyes look like they have been infected." It can’t be saved.”

"Who should I cut? Don't cut Zheng Linlin's, okay?" Ling Jiangyue helped fight for it, "She has very beautiful eyes."

What a pity, a cruel person like that would occasionally sigh for the loss of a pair of eyes.

Lin Jia: "If you want a biopsy, people at every stage have to do it. Now we can only... Qi Zhiyu woke up early! Hold her down!"

Lin Zheng stepped over and put his hands on Qi Zhiyu's shoulders: "She is twitching, having difficulty breathing, and her temperature is rising!"

Lin Jia: "I need to take antifungal drugs immediately. The amphotericin B injection is ready, but I'm not sure if there will be any side effects... It's too late, I'll inject it directly!"

They were busy injecting drugs into Qi Zhiyu. Ling Jiangyue had nothing to do, so he stood behind and stared at Qi Zhiyu's ferocious and twisted face.

The face that was so photogenic before now looks like a failed injection of botulinum toxin. It is so distorted that no trace of kindness can be seen, and the eyes are bulging, as if they might burst at any moment.

The thing in her eyes was growing wildly. Lin Zheng turned over her body, and the thing on the back of her head was about to break out of the "earth". Once it grows, the person will definitely be hopeless.

Ling Jiangyue helped control the hormone levels in Qi Juyu's body, so that the fungal replication and growth would be hindered, at least...

"Ahhh..." After the amphotericin B was injected, Qi Zhiyu suddenly struggled even harder when he should have breathed a sigh of relief, and even developed rapid ulcers on his face.

Lin Jia frowned fiercely: "The side effects of amphotericin B do not include facial muscle dissolution! Is she allergic to anything?"

Lin Zheng said quickly: "It's not like allergies. It's more like flesh-eating bacteria, but even if it's flesh-eating bacteria, it will take a while for the muscles to fester like this... a cardiotonic drug!"

"It's useless," Ling Jiangyue sighed inwardly and said calmly, "Her skull is infected, and the cerebrospinal fluid is full of gray dots."

Lin Zheng and Lin Jia's movements stopped, Qi Zhiyu, who was held down, stopped struggling, and the ECG monitor quickly showed several gradually parallel straight lines.

Lin Zheng silently retracted his hand and said calmly: "The first infected person died. Cover her with a spore capture device, and then cremate her at the designated place."