"James P. Hogan - Giants 2 - The Gentle Giants of Ganymede" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

from many of the species so far examined in the labs up in J4. I repeat --
many of the species -- many different species..." Danchekker clasped both
hands to his lapels and gazed at his mini-audience expectantly. His voice fell
almost to a whisper. "And yet nothing resembling it or suggestive of being in
any way related to it has ever been identified in any of today's terrestrial
animal species. The problem we are faced with, gentlemen, is simply to explain
these curious facts."
Paul Carpenter, fresh-faced, fair-haired and the youngest present,
pushed himself back from the table and looked inquiringly from side to side,
at the same time turning up his hands. "I guess I don't really see the
problem," he confessed candidly. "This enzyme existed in animal species from
twenty-five million years back -- right?"
"You've got it," Sandy Holmes confirmed from across the table with a
slight nod of her head.
"So in twenty-five million years they mutated out of all recognition.
Everything changes over a period of time and it's no different with enzymes.
Descendant strains from this one are probably still around but they don't look
the same..." He caught the expression on Danchekker's face. "No?...What's the
problem?"
The professor sighed a sigh of infinite patience. "We've been through
all that, Paul," he said. "At least, I was under the impression that we had.
Let me recapitulate: Enzymology has made tremendous advances over the last few
decades. Just about every type has been classified and catalogued, but never
anything like this one, which is completely different from anything we've ever
seen."
"I don't want to sound argumentative, but is that really true?"
Carpenter protested. "I mean...we've seen new additions to the catalogues even
in the last year or two, haven't we? There was Schneider and Grossmann at Sao
Paulo with the P273B series and its derivatives...Braddock in England with --
"
"Ah, but you're missing the whole point," Danchekker interrupted. "Those
were new strains, true, but they fell neatly into the known standard families.
They exhibited characteristics that place them firmly and definitely within
known related groups." He gestured again toward the screen. "That one doesn't.
It's completely new. To me it suggests a whole new class of its own -- a class
that contains just one member. Nothing yet identified in the metabolism of any
form of life as we know it has ever done that before." Danchekker swept his
eyes around the small circle of faces.
"Every species of animal life that we know belongs to a known family
group and has related species and ancestors that we can identify. At the
microscopic level the same thing applies. All our previous experiences tell us
that even if this enzyme does date from twenty-five million years back, we
ought to be able to recognize its family characteristics and relate it to
known enzyme strains that exist today. However, we cannot. To me this
indicates something very unusual."
Wolfgang Fichter, one of Danchekker's senior biologists, rubbed his chin
and stared dubiously at the screen. "I agree that it is highly improbable,
Chris," he said. "But can you really be so sure that it is impossible? After
all, over twenty-five million years?...Environmental factors may have changed
and caused the enzyme to mutate into something unrecognizable. I don't know,