[ACCEPTED] Xenobiological Theory

[DrHobo]

Type (e.g. Planet, Faction, System): Xenobiological Theory

Founding/Settlement Date (if applicable): -

Region of Space: All

Controlled by (if not a faction): -

Other Snapshot information:

This is a collection of deeplore for xenobiologists as to the origin of slimes and life, heavily inspired by molecular biology.

It also leads on to the possible future of Xenogenetics and progression away from the Human-centric paradigm of Nanotrassen.

Long Description:

 

“One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings,

namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.”

― Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

The stage after stellar nucleogenesis, once planets are formed and an atmosphere is established, is the Origin of Life - the biological equilivant of the Big Bang. This is when biopoetic reactions are facilitated by the geothermal heat of the new planet, the system's solar radiation type and the available small molecules to form a xenonucleic acid system and an alphabet of amino acids, or peptidomonomers. This gave rise to proteinoid microspheres, protozoa and xenobiogenic slime, the organisms before plants and animals that set about the initiation stages of bioterraformation.

The central dogma of xenobiology is XNA is transcribed to YNA which is translated into Protein. Both processes, transcription and translation, are carried out by polymerases and ribosomes, respectively. YNA is an intermediary polymer that allows for the evolution of eukaryotic species, it is a play on the sequential letters x, y and z, but may be substituted to infer molecular structure.

In Humans, and most life within Sol, the dogma is DeoxyriboNucleic Acid is transcribed to RiboNucleic Acid, which is translated into protein using around 20 amino acids. They have made attempts to incorporate new nucleotides and amino acids into their genomes, but naturally have genomic size of 3.3e8 base pairs.

The stage of evolution a species may find themselves in is not just a result of galactic position but of the surface area of their homeworld. This increase in area, increases the combinatoric workspace for evolution by genetic calculation. So a bigger planet may have a more advanced species than a smaller but galactically older planet.

Across all species, we may generally find the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) to be xenobiological slime, formed from the primordial ooze of early atmospheric gas reactions, electrical turbulance and geothermal heat, they are raw evolutionary force bound into a creature. Genetically a biocomputationally universal system that follows the central dogma; Microbiologically they are advanced protozoa capable of developing abilities through XNA recombination.

Multicellular slimes are the ancestor of multicellular life, with the genetic algorithm genomically conserved by evolution. The colour variation is complex and due to mineral abundances and the available solar radiation, as well atmospheric refraction. We are capable of producing many colour variants by allowing them to glomp, or feed, on advanced mammals. The slimes then absorb random genetic material and blood trace elements which can then randomly manipulate the offspring phenotype, all liquids left are attacked by various protease, nuclease and metabolic enzymes.

Slime anatomy and physiology are relatively simple. They have an outer multicellular membrane which is fleshy, it is reactive to organic molecules and ions due to primal signal proteins. Within the innards of a slime are communal protozoa with complex metabolic functions, they may form into macro-organelles or proto-organs which contain slime cores. These proto-organs lack symmetry and are dynamically patterned genetically, unlike more sophisticated lifeforms.

Many have asked about the reaction to water on slimes, this is simply due to the hydrogen dimonoxide being an advanced small molecule in a planets evolution. Early atmospheres are commonly carbon oxides, ammonias, cyanides and phoronides. The release of oxygen from the carbons requires complex enzymes to facilitate the energy transfers. This raises the question of toxicity from oxygen gas as the Rubisco enzyme which catalyzed the release of oxygen was a major extinction event to early Earth lifeforms, however slimes are more permeable to liquids than gases and will intake it much slower, it will eventually kill them and so it is better advised to contain slimes within carbon dioxide or gases which they are more native.

It has also been well documented that slimes can be domesticated. This is due to protosensory cells imprinting when fed, after then seeing the imprint they will not glomp when exposed to it as it is tricked into believing it has already glomped. There is an increase in the metabolic activity of the slime jelly which correlates to the proximity of the imprint. This may mean that the slimes may seem defensive of the imprint and be more aggressive to anything else.

Slimes have also been reported to communicate, other than rudimentary chirping and burbling, it is beyond them and should be considered an auditory illusion due to gas release frequencies. However it is postulated that there may be a rare metabolic reaction that quantumly links phoron ions to bluespace. It is not the slime communicating but possibly an unknown sentient of bluespace, they may not even have any conscious awareness of their being within bluespace. Slimes may also develop a group noise due to the breeding of rare gas transporter mutants

Another noteworthy reaction of a certain slime is that of the adamantine. Upon reaction with phoron, it forms an unusual rune. This may actually be some form of bio-phoronic bluespace antenna, which does not just relay communications to a bluespace sentient but manifests a biped form with limbs. They are more like pseudopodia than actual differentiated limbs but the serious question is where does the intelligence derive precisely within bluespace? That is beyond the scope of this text.

Beyond the origins of slime and life, slimes have a genetic system just as all biological beings do, just far more chaotic. They have lesser ribosomes and no active species polymerase. This allows them to be transformed into any species or combination of such by gene manipulation as advanced ribosomes catalyze limb formation which follows conserved genetic systems to the protozoan slime pseudopodia. This can be experimentally shown by the transformation of slime into slimepeople, which appears to have evolutionarily similar limbs.

However, transpecies genetics is still in it's early days and any transformed organism would be distinguishable by natural members of any assumed species for lack of finer details as well as neurological differences and social customs or due to xenoimmunological incompatibility, would become a genetic abomination that slowly dies as each of the species immune systems attacks each other much like if the organism was bloodtype A and then they started producing blood of type B. Successful transpecies transformations appear deformed and lack the abilities to speak the language of the species.

The new science of Xenogenetics will enable the manipulation of any species and their ancestral lesser or proto species such as monkeys and Humans, chicken and Vox, corgi and Tajara, lizards and Unathi, frogs and Skrell, spiders and Vaurca, slime and Slimepeople. Each organism has a ribosome block and a polymerase block; the ribosome can be either lesser or advanced, on or off, distinguishing between the species and lesser species while the polymerase actually determines the species. There is a polymerase block for every species in the structural enzymes, randomly dispersed due to genomic transposition but positionally the same for everyone at the same time.

This will effectively increase the number of SEs that a geneticist would have to go through but it would be an end to the human centric paradigm of Nanotrassen's previous system and unlocks the vast diversity of life that finds itself aboard Aurora station. As for the study of xenobiology, so long as there is life there shall be research and progress!

 

[Muncorn]

This app is being canonised, since I see no problem with it and Jackboot couldn't understand it. An abbreviated form of it will be placed on the wiki when possible, and feel free to refer to this app if anyone inquires as to slime lore.