[Science] Bioengineered Fungus Discovered Growing in Noveria Wildernes

Bioengineered Fungus Discovered Growing in Noveria Wilderness

Palindrus Mok, Noveria Inquisitor

Port Hanshan, Noveria – Pickal Topographics reports that AT-CCAEF-0143, a genetically altered fungus colloquially called “AzuMold,” has established a colony 43 kilometers north of Port Hanshan. AzuMold was developed by the AzuTech Corporation as a levo-amino food source that could grow in the harsh climate of Noveria. The fungus was initially used to supplement the planet’s food supplies during the Year of Isolation, but was found to be lethal to non-krogan and asari upon consumption. Its use has since been discontinued.

“Our satellites noticed a large blue patch of ground we hadn’t seen before,” said Vor Malu, a geological administrator at Pickal. “We sent a team in to investigate, and found the ‘Mold. Our biologists aren’t sure how it got out there yet, but based on its current size and growth rate, it’s at least two months old.” Large portions of the fungal patch are currently covered with snow, but Pickal scientists estimate a coverage of 750 hectares. In an official statement, the NDC reassured Noverian investors that the fungus is completely harmless if left uneaten, and should pose no threat to Port Hanshan corporations or their employees. AzuTech declined to comment upon this story.

It wasn't designed as a bioweapon; however, there is some evidence that it has been used as an assassination tool.

Fortunately, If you eat a small amount of it, it will usually just pass through and out of your body. The death tolls were due to people making it a large portion of their diets because there the food options here were limited.

<sinsiter voince> this is the asari-krogan takeover plan! <evil laugh> hahahaha... send us all your credits or we will release the mighty blue fungus to the galaxy!

consider Noveria "tagged" for further Kroganasarisation.

____

...okay, I should not make fun of this but how everyone screams "bioweapon on the loose" is a bit over the top. we have found myriads of poisonous fungus and plants all over the galaxy (some of Prothean engineering origin) so what's so special here?
One can die in a bar if picking enough peanuts from the wrong bowl (levo/dextro). dextro peanuts - bioweapon on the loose.

sorry... had a drink too many maybe. -> logging off

It wasn't so much as the article as this.


That made me think someone had used it as a weapon since killed translated in my mind as incident as opposed to accident. Maybe I did jump the gun a little, so sorry. Why don't you nearly get your ribs crushed by a living fungi and tell me if it freaks you out.


There are rumors about that, you know, discoverable elsewhere than a three paragraph news article.

You people are all racist.

While technically it can be used as a weapon of biological origin, the term "bioweapon" usually designates an agent that is used on a mass scale. AzuMold cannot be easily used for such a purpose.

I never said bioweapon. I just said weapon, which, as you pointed out, was correct. I'll try to be more pinpoint and say "assassins tool" in the future.

Right.

"Rumors" say that it was made an "assassins tool."

You do realize, as a journalist, that this has absolutely no integrity whatsoever, right? I could start claiming that it was also designed to be a cure-all panacea, and depending on your definition of "rumor," I could start using it to counterclaim your panicked screams of "BUT THEY SAID IT WAS MADE TO KILL."

AzuMold's our best bet against the soaring eezo-related health problems on Earth, by the way. Thought you oughtta know.

AzuTech keeps claiming it will sequester particulate eezo to aid in decontamination, but their arguments seem to be somewhat thin. At least they're actually testing it this time.

Of course, the Alliance is right to be nervous about introducing a rapidly-growing toxic fungus that can't be eaten by any Earth wildlife.

Never claimed otherwise. It is, however, irresponsible to stir panic about a news story by making groundless claims that exacerbate the situation.

Particularly about a product that could serve as an early Reaper detector.

...Anyway, AzuMold's a problem, but not an existential crisis.

I'm not a journalist anymore. In this case, I'm just a woman, posting on the extranet, worried about rapidly growing fungi. Which is as about as silly as it sounds.

You got the joke! Good job!

I don't understand, is this somehow connected to miss Muckracker's news special a few years back? Wasn't it disproved?

Why not krogan or asari (that's what I'm getting from that sentence)? Is there a difference in those species biology that stops it from growing and horribly dying?

...yeah, that doesn't sound like it'd be a good way to go.

If I had to guess, it's cause krogan are pretty much immune to most poisons. Like, it'll fuck them up, but unless you're giving them four or five times the lethal dose, they're just going to power on through. 'Sides, if they can eat krogan cooking, some fungus isn't going to trouble them much.

For us, well, we're all biotic - our stomachs are designed to get as many calories out of whatever we're eating as quickly as possible. Either we can break it down quick enough (unlikely, cause otherwise salarians would be immune as well) or there isn't enough food left in our stomachs for the fungus to feed on. Probably give you a hell of a bellyache, but nothing fatal.

The general consensus on Noveria is that doesn't affect asari because it was made by asari researchers, who took steps to make sure that digestibility wouldn't be a problem, but failed to take other physiologies into account. A few other corps have looked into it and published detailed explanations, but I haven't really followed them. The high metabolism may well be a factor in it.

As for the krogan, well, their digestive systems are capable of breaking down native Tuchankan plants and animals. There were a few reports of indigestion, but it's hard to kill a krogan through its stomachs.

Hell, vorcha are also probably able to eat it, but they aren't particularly common on Noveria.

Connected? No. Disproved? Also no. Fungus tends to make people around here twitchy for good reason.

Or at least it makes me twitchy for good reason.

Once again, it falls on me to be the voice of sanity. Regardless of whether this fungal outbreak was designed as a weapon or not (and I would vote in the "not" category, as there seems to be extensive documentation supporting that fact), the fact that it has been discovered and that people can be easily warned away from it means you should stop panicking like a bunch of idiotic young school children.

Yes, it is a fungus that grows in nature that kills people. So is Aminita muscaria. Humans dealt with that since the beginning of their sapience by seeing someone eat it, then die, and the survivors thought "well maybe I'm not going to be as stupid as that individual."

Yes, it is spreading fast. That is what fungus do.

Yes, it is dangerous if eaten. That does not mean that people are going to rush the fungus, mindlessly eat it, then point their fingers at the demons that created it, screaming SAVE US.

Honestly, the best way the authorities could deal with this is to put a fence around the compound, seal it off, and put up some signs that say "do not eat, toxic" like we've been doing with other poisonous substances for centuries.

You're children, you know that? Excitable, reactionary, illogical children.