The Andromeda Strain

The novel begins with a military satellite crashing in northern Arizona, leading to the deaths of nearly all the inhabitants of the nearby town of Piedmont.

Only two survivors are found: an old man and a baby.

A team of scientists, part of Project Wildfire, is dispatched to investigate the cause of the deaths and to contain the threat.

They discover an alien organism, the Andromeda Strain, which has lethal effects on humans by clotting their blood.

As the scientists delve deeper, they find that the organism mutates into a form that no longer harms humans but begins to eat through rubber and plastic.

The story culminates in a race against time to prevent a catastrophic breach of the containment facility and the potential spread of the organism.