Plausible materials/chemicals for a sentient blob creature to be made out of

In my book series (link here), there is a blob creature (lime-green in color, has a radioactive glow, is sentient, has a bizarre and uncanny intelligence level (has the emotional intelligence and "street smarts" of the average 6-year-old but is capable of answering quantum physics questions that would baffle Einstein without a second thought, as well as having battlefield intelligence that would baffle the likes of Hannibal Barca), can completely regenerate his entire body unharmed as long as a single cell of his body remains, cannot feel physical pain, immune to conventional weapons, but melts in physical contact with vegetable matter, around 3'4" in height in his normal state but can mold his boneless body into whatever form he wants whenever he wants to, and is shaped like a gumdrop in his normal state). He was originally developed as a light buoyant blob to help shipwrecked sailors to the surface and was not even supposed to be sentient. However, during a break-in at the lab he was being developed in, some idiot spilled a chemical into the beaker where Bob was forming, bringing him to life. Here is my question: which chemicals, if any, would form at least a pseudoscientific explanation for this phenomenon?

3 Answers
3

Hydrogel.

It's a macromolecular polymer gel made up of crosslinked polymer chains. It's elastic. It can swell, deform, and shift. And it's self-healing through hydrogen bonding.

Coelenterazine.

It's a compound called a luciferin in the protein aequorin found in aquatic animals. This provides bioluminescence so this creature can glow.

Genes like srap, or sea star regeneration-associated protease.

This is a gene with a DNA sequence similar to plasmin, a protein that dictates the shape of an animal during development and also contributes to healing of wounds.

Mesoglea.

This is a hydro-static, jelly-like translucent skeleton. This will provide any needed structure to the creature, and provide the scaffolding for its shape-shifting and regeneration.

Hydrogel and coelenterazine only require hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Mesoglea is also made up of water, so much of this creature will be primarily made of water, like a jellyfish.

This creature requires chemical compounds for rapid polymerization in its body, and a highly advanced central nervous system. As for its emotional intelligence and "street smarts," it has severe autism. Its central nervous system is focused.

It lacks nociceptors for less biological complexity, so it feels no pain.

Thixotropic substances have highly variable viscosity. As they are stressed their viscosity changes dramatically. When the stress is removed they change back to their default state.

If your blob was comprised of 2 different (and opposite) thixotropic fluids (one a shear-thickening liquid that gains viscosity under stress, and
a shear-thinning liquid that loses viscosity) it could form a network of semi-ridged supports (analogous to a skeleton) as well as a rudimentary hydraulic system. Together these two systems could be used for locomotion, tool using appendages, and even defensive and offensive weapons; all of which could be created or dissolved on demand.

DNA

http://qbcourseworkvnrv.representcolumb.us/dna-strawberry-conclusion.html

It's gooey. It can repair itself. The protein machinery to make it is well understood and cheap. It codes for all kinds of things. Maybe in the lab they used DNA as a hard copy long term storage medium.

Your organism is a collector, scrounging up and replicating every DNA it comes into contact with. It makes it's body out of its collection but it has the abilities of everything in its collection. It has a library of DNA from several million micro-organisms, all the researchers in the lab that developed it as well as their families and pets, multiple different animals, fungi and a fair amount of uncategorizable DNA.

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