Goa'uld digestion?

[Guest750]

What would happen if a Goa'uld took a host who was then eaten by a dinosaur on Jurassic Park? Would the symbiote die or would it be able to take the dino as a host?

[titan_hq]

Well, if the human was eaten whole, then I don't see why not. It could take a while for the symbiote to adapt, but I'm sure it would eventually take control of the dino. If the human was chewed up by the dino then I doubt the symbiote would survive, so no.

[marty2006]

Jesus. What a weird question.

[Ancavge]

that remind me of old stargate episode "the tomb" the goa'uld and the host are lock up inside a sarcophagus among a creature meant to eat both the host and goauld, but the goauld take over the creature and therefore surive while the host does not.

[Crazy Tom]

A Goa'uld velociraptor, are you people trying to screw Humanity over.

[=SGA=Jason_Binn]

A Goa'uld velociraptor, are you people trying to screw Humanity over.

oh geez, thats just horrible......

[Sealurk]

Stronger than normal velociraptors with rapid healing, glowing eyes, even freakier than normal roaring and a major god complex? Sounds good.

And as far as the question of the parasite's survival after it's host is eaten...in Enemy Within, even after most of the parasite is removed, it's still able to take full control of Kawalsky - so a slightly chewed symbiont might have a chance.

[Guest750]

I think that was just a shed skin

[Sealurk]

I think that was just a shed skin

I dunno, it looked a bit heavier and more substantial than a sloughed off skin - I'm pretty sure that they surgically removed most of the goa'uld, but had to leave a lot of the tissue that had penetrated the brain because it was too risky for Kawalsky.

And there was that little bit that fell out towards the end, once the gate was shut off - and it looked an awful lot like what was removed earlier. I might have to get the DVD out and watch it again though.

It also fits with a Goa'ulds remarkable regenerative abilities - if it can make its host, which is after all an animal with alien biochemistry and hundreds of times the body mass (not to mention nowhere near the regenerative ability a blended human or Jaffa displays), heal so quickly and so well, its own innate ability must be remarkable.

Plus, once blended with the host, the symbiont wouldn't necessarily need its own internal organs, since it's being nourished by the host's - as long as the brain remains intact and still 'plugged in' to the host, it seems the parasite can survive and probably regrow its body over time.

[auror]

Now just imagine a T-rex sitting on a throne in a ship, covered with jewels, and servents waving fans on it.
Scary.

[Lt. Col. Mcoy]

If you watch and listen carefully in 'The Enemy Within', you'll notice that apparently once in a host, the Goa'uld's 'head' detaches partially from the rest of the 'body', and is connected by only:

"thin filaments extending up and into the brain."

The bit that falls out of his brain is clearly the head. Therefore, once blended, only the Goa'uld's head need remain in the host to function. Before the blending however...

[Jack_Bauer]

errrrrrr, crazy, crazy question.

IMO, two ways to look at this, which provide two different answers.

1) Using the episode "the Tomb" as an example, we can see that the symbiote can jump into a predator trying to harm it's host. So yes, the Goa'uld could take over Jurassic Park lol.

2) However, in the spisode where Hathor takes over the SGC, she tells Daniel that in order to produce Symbiotes a Queen must first obtain the DNA of the species the symbiotes will control. Now she never says that these symbiotes wouldn't be able to take over members of species that don't have this original DNA, but would could interpret it eithe way. So going on this evidence it could be a ...... maybe... lol

[Guest750]

I think it was to ensure a successful blending. Which suggests that they can but they might die. Why don't the Tok'ra use spiders as hosts? Go in all spiderman like and spy on the bad guys from the ceiling.

[Sealurk]

The bit that falls out of his brain is clearly the head. Therefore, once blended, only the Goa'uld's head need remain in the host to function. Before the blending however...

Fair enough. So our hypothetical Goa'uld has to dodge the dino's teeth as they chew on its host long enough to escape the dead body, burrow through the throat of the predator and exact it's revenge.

I think it was to ensure a successful blending. Which suggests that they can but they might die. Why don't the Tok'ra use spiders as hosts? Go in all spiderman like and spy on the bad guys from the ceiling.

I think you're right - the way it works is that probably any goa'uld can potentially take any host it can fit in (those must be some bloody big Tok'ra spiders Guest!), but with the risk of not being able to blend properly, only having partial control, or maybe of dying, so it's an emergency action more than anything.

As I understand it, a queen sampling a host's DNA is to ensure that all her offspring are almost guaranteed to be able to blend with hosts of a particular species - they're genetically adapted to fit us better, almost eliminating any problems with blending. So the goa'uld in The Tomb was taking a big risk jumping into the predator it had been sealed in with, not knowing if the blending would work, but not having many other choices.

[Guest750]

Well it was in a sarcoughigus so it couldn't die greatly increasing its odds.