Chapter 4 - 4 Surgery
First of all, it is to unswirl first and untie the messy core.
Soon, the single-cell DNA strand appeared in front of Huo Gu without reservation.
Next is 'interception', cutting out the part of the gene chain that expresses phage, which is a very delicate job, especially for Huo Gu, who doesn't even have hands and feet now.
Carefully control the output of the enzyme to restrict the endonuclease to ensure that it does not harm other parts of the gene chain. At the same time, it relies on instructions to remotely control single cells and uses the flow of the cytoplasm to limit the endonuclease to the gene fragments that need to be removed.
This kind of behavior is tantamount to writing with saliva, and also on the surface of the water.
"Bad!"
With the emergence of Huo Gu's chagrin, the endonuclease of the operation error was cut all the way, and other gene fragments also ushered in a reduction. The single-cell kernel shrank by nearly half of the volume in a short time until the endosase was exhausted.
Then, in the ligase secreted by single-cell instinct, these piecemeal gene fragments are bonded to each other and once again combined into a complete gene chain.
However, Huo Gu knows that this greatly changed gene chain can no longer replicate the original single cell.
Huo Gu re-selected new cells as 'surgical' objects in the single-cell cluster.
The failure just now did not hit Huo Gu much in confidence. He never thought he was a genius, and even felt that he was more stupid than ordinary people, but he read a little more books than others.
The operation starts again.
This time, learning from the previous lesson, Huo Gu used the intracellular endonuclease more carefully, greatly reducing the amount of endonuclease, and focused most of his attention on cytoplasmic movement.
Let the flow of the cytoplasm, guide those endonucleases, and cut out the specified gene fragments. At the same time, after cutting, it is just exhausted.
Failure...
Failure...
Failure...
...
Failure...
Success!
"Very good."
As Huo Gu firmly believed, it succeeded. After losing nearly 100 cells, the genetic fragments of the bacteriophage were cut out.
The next step is to connect, which is relatively simple. Huo Gu remotely controlled the cells and used the flow of cytoplasm to limit the gene fragments that express the bacteriophage to a certain area.
Then, relying on ligase, the DNA divided into two segments after the operation is recombined into one, forming a new gene chain.
"Start splitting"
Under the command of Huo Gu, the replicator cell, which had been successfully operated, began to gradually divide into new individuals.
Soon, a new individual in a single-cell cluster appeared, but this new individual still had some unexpected situations. historical
That's the 'cell wall'.
The outside of the replicator cell is wrapped in a shell, which is stronger than the cell membrane and has a certain elasticity, which can give the cell ample space to protect the growth.
"This..."
"Why?"
Huo Gu thought for a moment and was not very sure.
"Is it because of the expression of the incomplete bacteriophage gene?"
The operation did not completely cut the genes of the bacteriophage. Huo Gu only removed the part of the previously learned gene fragment expressing the toxic bacteriophage.
Anyway, the incomplete gene expression is also incomplete, and it is impossible to transcribe the bacteriophage.
In order to perfectly remove it, risking the possibility of another toxic bacteriophage?
At that time, Huo Gu thought about it and let it go. It was not a perfectionist, and there was no need to die that kind of death.
I didn't expect such a situation...
There must be a cell wall, because the main function of the cell wall is to protect the cells.
A simple understanding is that the cloth clothes and the people wear steel armor, and their defense power is not the same as before.
Originally, Huo Gu planned to start the manufacture of cell walls after solving the matter of bacteriophages, but now...
Huo Gu was entangled.
It's not that it doesn't like such a surprise, but after all, this is an 'accidental' cell wall. It's hard to say whether it can meet the requirements it wants.
"It's decided. Let's observe for a while."
Huo Gu made up his mind and turned his attention to other single cells and began the operation.
With the first successful case, there will naturally be a second and third time. After a period of time, Huo Gu has become a masterful and has stabilized the success rate of cutting gene fragments at more than 80%.
During this period, Huo Gu thought of a way to break the connection of protein structure, which is to rely on division to create a new replicator between two connected single cells and squeeze out the old single cells.
This is somewhat similar to the principle of Theseus' ship, which gradually replaces those old single cells without affecting normal thinking.
Huo Gu, who thought so, did this.
With the replacement of the last infected single cell and the disappearance of the sense of crisis,replaces an incomparable sense of peace of mind. After all, there is nothing that can threaten it for the time being.
In a good mood, Huo Gu did not forget his current thinking carrier. It is just a group of insignificant single-cell clusters, which are lower-level organisms than the plants at the bottom of the food chain.
Huo Gu thought that when he was still a human, there were at least 100 million ways to erase the current single-cell cluster. When his thoughts floated here, he shuddered.
"It's too fragile. I still need to continue to optimize these single cells."
Huo Gu, who set the goal, began to analyze the unexpected 'surprises'. If the effect of these cell walls is not ideal, it is necessary to perform surgery again to completely remove the genetic fragments of the bacteriophage, and then rebuild the cell wall that can meet the needs.
The first requirement is proper permeability. If the permeability is too good, the protective effect can be minimal. If the permeability is too poor, the substances that can be obtained from the outside world will become less, and the cells will gradually decline.
The second requirement is appropriate flexibility. The cell wall cannot be too hard or too soft, and it must also have a certain ductility. If it is too hard, it will limit the growth of the cell itself. If it is too soft, it will not have a buffer protection effect. If it cannot be extended, the plasticity will be very poor, which is not conducive to each other in today's environment.
The third need is also the most urgently needed by Hoko, which is to be able to defend against the attacks of bacteriophages, aggressive bacteria and fungi hidden in the dark.
The first and second requirements are easy to test. You only need to place a single cell alone on the periphery. The rest of the work is just to observe whether the single cell as the experimental subject has changed and to what extent.
The real difficulty is the third.