I kidnapped an alien civilization

In the small conference room, Li Mo sat at the conference table with two whiteboards behind him.

The biological samples were delivered this morning and are now being stored in an incubator.

There are 10 groups of samples. I need you to test whether there are biotoxins in the neuron tissue samples of patients with gradual freezing. Li Mo stood up as he spoke, and wrote biotoxins on the whiteboard behind him.

Bacterial toxins, fungal toxins, animal toxins, or marine biotoxins? Zhou Fang frowned and asked, What type of biotoxins are they? Is it a toxin that can cause photosensitivity, or a toxin that can cause neurological lesions?

Is there a specific target?

Li Mo nodded after asking three consecutive questions. It seems that Zhou Fang has done some research on this aspect.

He took out the printed materials and distributed them to 5 people. Said: According to my analysis, the cause of ALS is likely to be a biological toxin produced by the human body itself.

Does the human body produce toxins? Wang Qian raised her hand and asked.

Before Li Mo could answer, Zhang Xueming touched his thinning hair and said, Aren't free radicals and uric acid the toxins produced by the human body? Li Mo looked at his skillful movements when touching his hair, and thought to himself: There is a reason for being bald.

At this time, Zhou Fang, who has researched on toxins, said, Strictly speaking, free radicals and uric acid are not biological toxins, they are just harmful substances produced by the human body during normal metabolism. This kind.

Li Mo nodded and said, The biological toxin we are looking for this time is an active substance that is produced by the human body itself and can cause harm to the motor cells of the human body.

Currently, the production principle of this biotoxin is unknown, the structure of the compound is unknown, and the specific target is unknown. All of these require you to find out through biological anatomy experiments and comparing the neuron tissue of normal people. Li Mo threw out three unknowns.

This task can be described as extremely difficult, and there is no clear goal, only a general scope. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

He thought that the five people present would be complaining, but he didn't expect the lively Wang Qi to say first: The boss is the boss, and he assigned such a difficult experimental task as soon as he came up.

Zhou Fang also said with bright eyes: Boss, no matter what the experimental results are, I must give you a thumbs up for your idea that the human body can also produce biological toxins.

Every scientist has a desire to challenge the future. When the five researchers heard the task assigned by Li Mo, not only did they not lose confidence because of difficulties, but they also actively discussed the experimental plan.

I propose to use the mass spectrometry method for detection first. Mass spectrometry has a wide range of detection. Zhou Fang raised his eyes and said.

Secondly, mass spectrometry is the most stable.

Seconded.

Soon, everyone reached a consensus that the initial detection by mass spectrometry,

Then everyone will start the experiment now. First of all, remember to wear protective clothing. If this toxin really exists, we don't know its specific properties at present, so we must pay attention to safety when dissecting it. Li Mo said.

Wang Qi pouted at Li Mo and saluted: Don't worry, boss, we are veterans who have been through battle.

The mass spectrometer used in the biological laboratory is a matrix-assisted laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometer, which needs to record the accurate mass of the sample. Wearing a biochemical protective suit, Zhou Fang carefully took out the biological sample and placed it on the laboratory bench. Zhang Xueming took the LITTLE test tube, took a little sample, put it in a high-speed centrifuge, and started the centrifuge.

Wang Qian put 0.1g of biological samples into the mass spectrometer, set the detection program, and the mass spectrometer issued a beep beep sound.

Li Mo knows that in the mass spectrometer, there is a laser irradiating the sample and the matrix to form a co-crystal film. The matrix absorbs energy from the laser, and the charge transfer between the matrix and the sample causes the sample molecules to ionize. The ionized sample accelerates to fly under the action of the electric field. The flight pipeline is detected according to the flight time of the detector, that is, the ratio of mass to charge of the ion is proportional to the flight time of the ion to detect the ion.

The MALDI-TOF-MS method is currently the most effective method for detecting protein macromolecules. It can detect and measure the peptide mass fingerprint (PMF) and post-source fragmentation (PSD) fragment ion spectrum of protein enzymatic hydrolysis, combined with mass spectrometry network database search, can be Obtain sequences of peptides and proteins.

Zhang Feng next to the test bench input the data during the experiment into the computer.

The mass spectrometer takes 2 hours for each detection, and everyone started to make samples of the control group in their free time.

Standing in front of the glass window of the office, Li Mo looked at the meticulous researchers in front of him, and his heart was filled with relief. The technical strength of the new generation of researchers is still very strong, but they lack a suitable platform.

Soon the first set of experimental data came out, and Zhang Feng sent the data to Li Mo through the computer. Li Mo opened the data and started the analysis. The data showed that the two groups of biological samples contained casein, keratin, albumin, globulin, sclerostin, protamine, histone, structural protein, and acetylcholine, while the data of the control group contained more Aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Useless, useless! Li Mo looked at the first set of data and shook his head helplessly. The only difference in acetaldehyde dehydrogenase could only show that the provider of this biological sample had a very good alcohol tolerance. Because the main function of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is the oxidation product of ethanol, acetaldehyde.

However, a set of data has only been carried out now, and he does not expect to find unknown biological toxins soon.

Boss, it's noon time, should the researchers get off work first? Seeing that Li Mo was concentrating on analyzing the data in the computer, Xia Qing reminded him that he had forgotten the time again.

Only then did Li Mo realize that the whole morning had passed. He asked, Has the second set of experimental data come out?

Xia Qing replied: Not yet, it will probably take another hour, I don't understand the biological experiment.

It will take another hour for the second set of biological experiment data to come out, but there are still 8 sets of samples waiting to be tested. Biological experiments are like looking for a needle in a haystack. Through enough comparison samples, the biological toxin is finally captured.

Thinking of this, Li Mo shook his head, I'll help you order takeout, the best. I inform you that you can take a 30-minute break at noon.

When Xia Qing told the researchers outside, Wang Qi took the lead and said, I want to order boiled pork slices, spicy.

Eating meat in front of biological samples, no wonder some people say that girls who study biology can't be offended. Li Mo shook his head and continued to sit back in front of the computer.

Boss, what do you want to eat? Xia Qing pushed open the door and asked.

Li Mo didn't need to eat after taking the energy coffee, but he still ordered a lotus seed egg porridge.