Wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, Little Spider looked like a freshmen who had just graduated from university. His youthful temperament made his identity as a talented research assistant especially convincing. He put on his long-awaited formal attire and looked a little sluggish, like a bookworm.
It could be considered his true colors!
I've worn red and blue tights so much that I can't get used to formal attire! The little spider thought to herself, Am I turning into a pervert who loves to wear tight clothes?
Lucius Fox was a thin, middle-aged black man who looked very spirited. He was the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and one of the few people who knew Bruce Wayne's other identity. He provided technological support to Bruce, and many of Batman's equipment were developed by him.
But in general, he was more inclined toward high-precision machinery, which did not match the biotechnology that the Lex Group was good at.
He was also a little curious about Peter's identity, but Bruce would not explain too much to him. Although he and Alfred were the two people that Bruce trusted the most, Bruce was a skeptic. He believed that there were no eternal secrets and no one who could keep secrets forever. Everyone had a weakness, including himself. The best way to protect them was not to let them know too much.
Therefore, Lucius only knew that Bat needed Little Spider to infiltrate the Lex Group's secret laboratory, but he did not know much about Little Spider's mission and identity.
"Don't talk too much. You're playing the image of a man of few words," Lucius said. "The more you interact with them, the easier it is to reveal flaws. Your right ear has been implanted with a bone conduction headset. If you encounter any technical or scientific problems, I will guide you remotely. Don't move around in the laboratory … Any small movement will expose your true level … It's hard to fake academics. "
"Taciturn?" Little Spider thought to himself. I think you're making things difficult for me. Maybe I should play the role of a man of few words but with a lot of inner drama.
Lucius sighed. "For a man of few words, the expressions on your face are too rich!"
When they passed by a laboratory, the little spider took a few more glances at it. He clearly wanted to say something, but he was worried about his image, so he suppressed his talkative nature. When they arrived at the office provided by Lex Corporation, the spider's senses did not detect any eavesdropping devices. The little spider finally could not hold it in any longer.
"Are they doing non-destructive cell replication?"
Peter continued, "I just saw that they seem to be using somatic cells to induce and cultivate stem cells in a targeted manner, trying to restore the function of cells. But it seems that they are still at the first step — transforming ordinary human skin cells into a new type of "universal cells" with the function of embryonic stem cells.
"Hmm?" Lucius felt a little lost. He specialized in electronics and machinery, and biology seemed to be a little broad. Was he good at general knowledge and general research? Faced with such front-end problems, he could only show a confused and innocent look.
"Looks like your world's biological research is not very developed!"
The little spider said excitedly. "The method they used cannot cultivate universal cells suitable for the human body because they used a reverse transcriptase virus in the process of genetic recombination."
He excitedly explained to Dr. Lucius, "Reverse transcriptase is a tool used by viruses to modify DNA. It is a naturally evolved DNA compiler. Viruses use reverse transcriptase to transcribe their own RNA into DNA, and then use the organelles of the host cell to carry out transcription, translation, and synthesis of daughter viruses … Just like how Lao Wang parasitizes the reproductive system of the neighbor and uses the reproductive system of the neighbor to give birth to his own child …"
"I know what a retrovirus is!" Hearing the dirty metaphor of the little spider, Lucius could not help but interrupt him.
"Oh!" The little spider did not know that his inadvertent display of academic discrimination had provoked Dr. Lucius.
He continued to explain, "The retrovirus is a tool for genetic recombination. If the method of using the virus as a tool is not appropriate, it will cause genetic pollution, which is to cause genetic mutation, lose the expression of the original cell, and be unable to retain the gene expression of the original cell. Take cloning as an example. Using cells with recombinant DNA by the retrovirus for cloning, there is a high probability of cloning a huge tumor. If the tumor can still maintain its human identity, it will look like an egg with teeth! "
"Like being bitten by a Shar Pei that has been exposed to radiation!"
"Also … like an avocado and another older and more disgusting avocado having sex with a crocodile, giving birth to a disfigured child!"
Lucius could not help but imagine the little spider's malicious metaphor and was immediately disgusted. He angrily interrupted the little spider's' think of an even more disgusting description 'competition and roared, "I know what genetic mutation caused by gene recombination by retrovirus is, and I also know what genetic mutation is. I graduated from MIT with a professional doctorate, not from a state university, nor am I an idiot from a community college! "
"You don't have to explain these questions to me!"
The little spider was stunned. "But I graduated from a state university! Empire State University … After the New York State University system was destroyed by the Apocalypse, it was rebuilt as a research-oriented university. "
"At that time, I was still in high school and wanted to go to Harvard University because it was the strongest school in the field of biology. But later, I heard from S.H.I.E.L.D. that after the New York State University system was destroyed, the U.S. government intended to use its educational resources to rebuild a research-oriented university to study Skynet technology closely. There was also a friendly alien leader professor from the Starling race who cooperated to run the school. Compared to MIT, Harvard was like three centuries behind. Then I changed my goal of enrolling. "
"Of course, I'm not saying that MIT is not good. It used to train Dr. Stark! I mean … times, yes, times have changed. Faced with the challenge of the technological boom, it is now a little behind the times. After all, it cannot compare to Empire State University … I mean, it is not suitable to compare with Empire State University because we are the closest to Skynet, and we also cooperate with Starlings. We have already surpassed the limits of Earth. Of course, on Earth, I mean in the countries on Earth, MIT is a good university! "
Lucius was so ashamed and angry that he almost fainted.
The little spider knew that he had said the wrong thing and kept explaining, "MIT is a good university!"
"Shut up!" To avoid being humiliated by the little spider, Dr. Lucius could only change the topic. "What's wrong with the Lex Corporation's research?"
The little spider returned to his familiar field, and he vaguely sensed that the level of research in this world was a little behind. He became a little excited and talked about his favorite field of biology. "Looking at the information they released, they are challenging somatic cell cloning. They are not cloning with somatic cell nuclei or egg cells, but completely cloning with somatic cells. Now, all-purpose cells are just the first step. They want to use the somatic cells in their hands to create cells that are more versatile than stem cells. They have to overcome countless difficulties.
"Now, their biggest headache is the genetic damage caused by retrovirus recombinant DNA. With the direction of their research … there is no hope of solving this problem within five years … They are going the wrong way!"
The little spider suddenly realized something. "They are trying to clone a group of special cells, and there are many problems. I can't get the data of that cell, but I can see that the characteristics of that cell are very unique. In some areas, such as vitality and genetic mutation, it is beneficial to research. This kind of cell has a strong vitality and will not easily die from experiments or damage. That is to say, it is very durable and especially suitable for experiments.
"But at the same time, when the retrovirus invades this cell, it will be easily destroyed. They have to use the symbiotic virus to cultivate it. Therefore, this kind of retrovirus is very destructive to genes. To use an analogy, replicating this kind of cell is like studying an iron man with iron bones. Ordinary scalpels can't cut the skin at all.
"Then someone developed a powerful artillery — that kind of retrovirus.
"They hope to use artillery to smash the iron man into pieces, and then grope around in the pieces to put together a complete human form. This is just the first step. The ultimate goal is to resurrect the iron man into two! "
"You have a way to solve the problem?" Dr. Lucius heard the hidden meaning in the little spider's words.
The little spider smiled confidently. "I dare not say anything else, but retrovirus … that is my specialty. I once worked with Dr. Cotter to develop a method to transcribe lizard DNA into human DNA for expression. I also helped Harry cure his family's genetic disease — that is a retrovirus. "
Even his superpower was the result of his father using a retrovirus as a tool to modify his DNA. The spider's venom was a type of retrovirus that modified genes!
Of course, the little spider did not say this out loud.
"Transcribing animal DNA for positive expression in the human body, if I use the analogy just now, it is like cutting a person into eight pieces and putting them together with the animal's body parts. In the end, not only is the person still alive, but he also has the ability of an animal. The difficulty is definitely not low. So, the problem that they have a headache is a piece of cake for me! "
The little spider said confidently, "They just haven't found the scalpel to dissect the iron man, and they haven't found the enzyme to manipulate the cell DNA. I can even predict that the tool is in the retrovirus they are cultivating. They just need to transform the artillery into a laser cutting knife."
In the office, Luther was having a headache. The progress of the cloning of Superman in the laboratory was extremely slow. If not for the strong vitality of Superman's cells, they would have used up the blood and epidermal cells that Luther had painstakingly collected, and the laboratory would have been closed.
There were many problems in cloning Superman.
The simplest one required at least enough experimental materials, and that was to replicate Superman's somatic cells without damage. Only with enough Superman cells could they talk about the next step. Cultivating non-destructive cells was not as simple as dividing the cells. Even if Superman's cells were resistant to genetic mutation, in the absence of a human body, the repeated division of somatic cells would cause fatal genetic damage.
Luther wanted to clone Superman, not the descendants of Superman's genetic mutation.
To obtain Superman's non-destructive cells, the first thing to do was to restore the function of Superman's cells — that is, totipotent cells — and then to induce stem cells. The method of obtaining differentiated cells through stem cells would cause minimal genetic damage.
But now, to obtain Superman's stem cells, the first thing to do was to use the retrovirus to restructure the genes. The genetic damage in the process had reached a level of destruction.
Without the need for multiple divisions, the cultured cells could not be used.
Thinking of the difficulty of the experiment, which could be said to be a process with no progress, Luther had the urge to capture Superman and extract a tube of his spinal cord.
It would be best if Superman was a woman. Then he could capture her, extract her eggs, and then extract the mammary gland cell nucleus for cloning … If he could capture Superman, what the hell was there to clone!
Superman's somatic cells were all stolen when the alien general came to Earth and fought with Superman, okay?
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