BLACK GOO EITR?

I think the liquid that the Engineer drink in the beginning is not the dark liquid later in the film. That "drink" in the beginning was actually some kind of mixture that breaks down the DNA of the Engineer and seeds his DNA into the river. BTW that location was Earth. Therefore stating that we came from the Engineer's sacrifice.

The Black Goo when ingested probably breaks you down into your DNA blocks. Amino acid / acid in your stomach probably causes some chemical / biological reaction. Thus probably why the sacrificial engineer disintegrated and Holloway took a bit while longer since David only put a very small drop, probably also dried up on his finger since we can see he just tapped the glass just a bit. If just applied to the outer skin, it probably causes some rapid mutation or accelerant for evolution - but like medicine- is specific. Kinda like this medicine is for headaches and that one for anti-biotics. They we're probably like fertilizers on the moon, thus the worms and dirt inside the ship. Jormungandr from Norse Mythology I recall is a big serpent chewing down the Tree of Life in preparation for Ragnarok, so it's probably a different myth.

How can it be the same as the "drink" in the start of the movie? - drink, breaks down DNA and the Engineer body and seeds Earth with lifeforms, lifeforms evolve into modern humans Compare with: - biological weapons goo, drinks, make worms come out of the eyes and turn you into a crazy-killing-zombie (Fifield got a face-full of black goo after the worm acidic blood melt off his faceplate)

I believe it is the same substance. I believe it is kinda the central theme of the movie. I think that is the mystery is how it reacts differently to different organisms and depending on ingestion, touch, maybe even temperature. If you remember, David looks inside the jar to see 2 liquids. One clear the other black. Perhaps this changes it somehow, or just a temperature or atmospheric change monitor. Think about this, you can get bleach on your skin and one thing will happen. you can spill some on clothing another. If you drink it though, that's the end of you However, I say again that it is the same liquid obviously. It is the key to creating, changing and breaking down DNA. To determine how it is manipulated...stay tuned for the sequel.