The three students stared blankly. Bad news from something capable of making it into a top journal?
What kind of bad news could be this bad?
"The first piece of bad news is that these Actinomycetes are highly capable of surviving in the wild. They can secrete three different antibiotics at the same time." Song He held up three fingers.
"We don't yet know the medical value of these three antibiotics, but they're extremely effective at killing Mixed Bacteria in the environment."
"That means that once they enter farmland, it'll be difficult for other Mixed Bacteria to squeeze them out of their living space and force them to die off on their own. On the contrary, they're bound to become a dominant strain, using antibiotics to slaughter the Mixed Bacteria nearby that compete for nutrients, occupying huge amounts of living space and then multiplying in massive numbers!"
The three students immediately grew anxious.
There was no need to doubt the teacher's conclusion. Actinomycetes were already major producers of antibiotics; two-thirds of the clinical antibiotics used in medicine came from Actinomycetes. And during every soil-sampling operation, Actinomycetes were never absent.
When Actinomycetes produced medicine for humans, they looked quite adorable. But now that their antibiotics had become the enemy, the situation was exceptionally troublesome!
"The second piece of bad news is that we observed a zombie effect," Song He said.
"A zombie effect?" Ling Yiyi froze for a moment. "Like Ophiocordyceps unilateralis?"
"That's right." Song He nodded.
"What is that?" Xia Wansan asked, turning toward Ling Yiyi in confusion.
"Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, nicknamed the zombie fungus, can parasitize Camponotus leonardi and control the ants' movements." Ling Yiyi quickly explained. "After an ant is infected, its consciousness remains clear, but its body is controlled by the fungus. It involuntarily climbs onto a leaf