Invasion of the Tar Balls, Episode II

Episode II

Retlaw Fflow, a world renound scientist, late the next day received a urgent phone call from the State laboratory where the new tar balls had been sent for preliminary analysis. Retlaw was an authority on theories about alien life forms and unusual life forms found on earth. Among many other endeavors, he was a consultant to NASA regarding interplanatary travel and possible life forms that might be encountered during space flightl. He had been the chief scientist that had sequenced the gnome of several rare and unusual earth bound life forms. He was director and chief investigator at the National Science Foundation laboratories. He reported directly to the President.

The State laboratory stated that analysis of the tar balls indicated that they had indeed originated from the gushing disaster in the deep Gulf and in addition some very unusual and disturbing findings were noted that they could not explain. He was requested to come immediately to the State laboratory in Austin to look at the findings and offer his expert learned opinion.

Retlaw rushed to Austin that night and early the next morning went to the State laboratory to review the findings . He agreed that the molecular structure found with mass spectroscopy strongly indicated the orgin was the oil pool that the BP Horizon drilling rig had tapped with disasterous results. In some of the samples there was the suggestion of a not before seen DNA structure that indicated some form of carbon based life.

The samples were rushed to Retlaw's laboratory in Washington and further detailed and painstaking analysis , requiring several days, indicated a double helix structure similar to that discovered by Watson and Crick, but with one striking difference. Instead of the four nucleotides A-C-G-T ( Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine--Uracil in RNA) there were two extra unknown molecules making up the rungs of the spiral stair case of the newly discovered DNA. What were these new compounds. No known nucleotides matched these compounds. Did they somehow act as base pairs like A-C-G-T or was there a new chemical mechanism at work: If indeed there were six building blocks instead of the usual four compounds, a very complex and different life form indeed was suggested. Perhaps weeks or months would elapse before these structures could be understood. Much laboratory investigation to be done!



To be continued...............................