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[Origami_Psycho]

Almost all multicellular organisms co-exist with bacteria in their digestive tract, and those bacteria are very helpful in digesting certain things.  Cows, for example, use bacteria to break down crud even more than their stomachs can.

[Imp]

I wouldn't get to many hopes up about bacteria/virii/protists and similar.  Our host seems to have mostly/totally removed microscopic life in this world, or else we cannot detect/absorb it.  Lichen's been the weakest/littlest thing we've been able to get nourishment from.

The first time we drank from a very scummy pond we were hoping to get food/DNA from the contaminated water(but we didn't) when we consumed the sewer mouse we recieved only that critter's DNA and not the huge host of microbes that surely shared its body, same with the welif.  As we move over the ground we're probably encountering all sorts of scuzzy scum, but we either can't or just don't eat it.

Can't say I blame our host for keeping it macroscopic, we'd surely have a DNA list of hundreds of thousands of types of microscopic things by now otherwise.

[Origami_Psycho]

Fair enough

[Thecard]

Well, it would be fairly easy to include microorganisms.  We aren't going to need their names, because we can't see them.  The GM named the mice so we could visualize what we saw.  He also described the crocodile-that-is-not-a-crocadile so we would know what we were getting ourselves into.  He named it so we could call it something other than "weird-ass croc."
 
In theory, two samples of earth from one area would have identical type and ratio of bacteria.  And the type and amount is going to be dependent on the nutrient count.  So, an area that had compost on it at some point would be more bacteria-rich than dry earth, but if they were in the same biome (some bacteria live on the bottom of the ocean, some live in tropical beaches, and yet others live in pine forests) they would contain the same types of bacteria. 
Of course, in reality there would be a difference in ratio and count, but it would be negligible.

[Imp]

Well, it would be fairly easy to include microorganisms.  We aren't going to need their names, because we can't see them.... In theory, two samples of earth from one area would have identical type and ratio of bacteria....Of course, in reality there would be a difference in ratio and count, but it would be negligible.

Err, I'm not sure how this could be easy?

A rough minimum of 10,000 species of microbes live on 'healthy' humans.  I can't give you an estimate of how many types of microbes live on fantasy wild sewer mice of unknown health, because I'm having trouble finding a study which checked something similar to that, but as far as dirt goes, on our world in natural areas, a gram of soil contains on rough average 16,000 species of microbes.

And we drank sewer water as well as crawled around the sewer and ate four different life forms, so figure that we've been exposed an absolute minimum of around 100,000 types of microbes.  At least 1,000 of those are probably very interesting because of some unusual and somehow useful protein they make, but there's no way we can expect our host to have that all listed out, nor do we probably have the senses to percieve most of this.  I think our host stayed away from 'the unseen' because it would be just overwhelming otherwise.

[Thecard]

Well, there are technically an infinite amount of bacteria, since there are some that haven't been discovered on top of that, but the GM doesn't have to include all of them and what each of them do.  As I said, all of the water in the sewer should breed the same type and amount if bacteria.  So he could just say that "sewer water bacteria" have X effect on us or something like that.  But I'm just making a suggestion here.

[Kazymir]

Well, it was noted that we can use "our own" DNA to evolve, perhaps that's what was meant. Traces picked up with close proximity to tagalongs and microscopic flora and fauna.

[Thecard]

Oh, and there are only so many proteins.  So only while there are mils of bils of bacteria, you only have to look at their collective effect, which there shouldn't be much of.  I'd give you a link if I wasn't so damn lazy.

[micelus]

Mikroeganisms? What's that? Nope, never heard of those!

[Thecard]

Mikroeganisms? What's that? Nope, never heard of those!

Oh, it's quite simple.
They're the magical-bullshit of biology.


"'Why did X happen?' BACTERIA. Now sit down and shut up."
-Every biologist ever.

[Origami_Psycho]

Mikroeganisms? What's that? Nope, never heard of those!

Oh, it's quite simple.
They're the magical-bullshit of biology.


"'Why did X happen?' BACTERIA. Now sit down and shut up."
-Every biologist ever.

No, in that case it's always the fluid nature of the phospholipid bi-layer.
Or hydrogen bonding.

[Thecard]

Mikroeganisms? What's that? Nope, never heard of those!

Oh, it's quite simple.
They're the magical-bullshit of biology.


"'Why did X happen?' BACTERIA. Now sit down and shut up."
-Every biologist ever.

No, in that case it's always the fluid nature of the phospholipid bi-layer.
Or hydrogen bonding.

Isn't hydrogen bonding only something that occurs in water?
At least, the hydrogen bonding I'm thinking of.  I guess H bonding to anything would be hydrogen bonding.

[Imp]

Mikroeganisms? What's that? Nope, never heard of those!

Oh, it's quite simple.
They're the magical-bullshit of biology.


"'Why did X happen?' BACTERIA. Now sit down and shut up."
-Every biologist ever.

No, in that case it's always the fluid nature of the phospholipid bi-layer.
Or hydrogen bonding.

Isn't hydrogen bonding only something that occurs in water?
At least, the hydrogen bonding I'm thinking of.  I guess H bonding to anything would be hydrogen bonding.

I think you'd enjoy college level Chemistry classes!

[Thecard]

Mikroeganisms? What's that? Nope, never heard of those!

Oh, it's quite simple.
They're the magical-bullshit of biology.


"'Why did X happen?' BACTERIA. Now sit down and shut up."
-Every biologist ever.

No, in that case it's always the fluid nature of the phospholipid bi-layer.
Or hydrogen bonding.

Isn't hydrogen bonding only something that occurs in water?
At least, the hydrogen bonding I'm thinking of.  I guess H bonding to anything would be hydrogen bonding.

I think you'd enjoy college level Chemistry classes!

Well, that's what the AP Chem class is.  But I'm still in regular chem right now.  Gotta wait 'til next year.
As fun as Chemistry is though, I don't think it'll be something I'll study post high-school..

[javierpwn]

Charge at Mice!!