Like facultative anaerobes. I wonder if this bypass system has a time limit.
If he were faculataive anaerob, it shouldn' be time limited. But you could be sure that it wouldn't be as efficient a system as the aerob system. But it really could make sense, since the oxygen in the human system is nothing much but an electron donor which during the course of metabolism gets reduced to water. Knowing that and assuming he'd have a very adjustable metabolism, he could practically do with quite a number of electron donors (and he eats, right? Then he would also need a carbon source like fat, sugar or some alien molecules.), he would only need certain amounts of different enzymes in his system that match his carbon source and electron donors so he'd be able to break it all down.
Many fungi and bacteria develop spores, so maybe that's what he does? And then he's sort of regrowing from the spore and does look different because of genetic recombination? (You know, chromosomal crossing-over and such...)
no subject
If he were faculataive anaerob, it shouldn' be time limited. But you could be sure that it wouldn't be as efficient a system as the aerob system. But it really could make sense, since the oxygen in the human system is nothing much but an electron donor which during the course of metabolism gets reduced to water. Knowing that and assuming he'd have a very adjustable metabolism, he could practically do with quite a number of electron donors (and he eats, right? Then he would also need a carbon source like fat, sugar or some alien molecules.), he would only need certain amounts of different enzymes in his system that match his carbon source and electron donors so he'd be able to break it all down.
Many fungi and bacteria develop spores, so maybe that's what he does? And then he's sort of regrowing from the spore and does look different because of genetic recombination? (You know, chromosomal crossing-over and such...)
It's fun speculating about this... :-D