7/6/2023 0 Comments Incontrol dies![]() ![]() ![]() The first signs of infection are erratic and abnormal behavior. But only ophiocordyceps control their host’s body.Ībout 35 of these ophiocordyceps fungi are known to turn insects into zombies, but as many as 600 may exist, says João Araújo, an expert on parasitic fungi at the New York Botanical Garden. Cordyceps are a broad category of insect parasites, and a popular health supplement. How does the parasite infect ants?Ĭreator of The Last of Us Neil Druckmann was reportedly inspired by a nature video showing the fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, infecting a bullet ant. But while scientists aren’t worried about fungi evolving to turn people into zombies, rising temperatures do pose a real risk of making fungal infections worse. “In a fantastical way, the logical links are there, but it’s not likely to happen in real life,” says Will. That’s the premise of the new television show based on the video game The Last of Us in which, as a result of warming temperatures caused by climate change, a fungus takes over the world and turns humans into parasite-controlled zombies. ![]() What if this parasitic fungus could do the same thing to us? “They’re like these grim little Christmas ornaments out in the forest,” says Ian Will, a fungal geneticist at the University of Central Florida, where these zombified ants can be found. An ant, no longer in control of its body, crawls away from its colony, hangs perilously on a leaf, and waits to die as a fungus consumes its body, emerges from its head, and releases spores into the air. ![]()
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