Hydrolazat

Hydrolazat is a fictional compound that appears in the science fiction novel "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crighton. It is a highly unstable and rapidly proliferating biological agent that is the primary antagonist of the story. Hydrolazat is characterized by its ability to consume and break down organic matter at an astonishing rate, making it incredibly dangerous to any living organism it encounters.

In the context of the novel, Hydrolazat is discovered by a U.S. military reconnaissance satellite that crashes in the desert near Piedmont, Arizona. The extraterrestrial microorganism is brought back to Earth in the bloodstream of a deceased astronaut. Once released, Hydrolazat begins to spread exponentially, causing the deaths of the town's inhabitants through rapid cellular decomposition. The compound's extreme contagiousness and lethality pose a significant threat to global civilization.

A team of top scientists is assembled at a top-secret underground laboratory called Wildfire to study Hydrolazat and find a way to neutralize it. They discover that Hydrolazat has a specific weakness: it cannot survive in the presence of pure oxygen or fluorine. This discovery is crucial in their efforts to contain and ultimately eradicate the threat. The novel explores the race against time to understand and defeat this alien pathogen, highlighting themes of scientific discovery, human resilience, and the potential dangers of extraterrestrial life.