The zombie fungus from 'The Last Of Us' is real — but not nearly as deadly (1 Viewer)

[JacksinPA]

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/30/1151868673/the-last-of-us-cordyceps-zombie-fungus-real#:~:text=Ophiocordyceps%20unilateralis%2C%20otherwise%20known%20as,will%20let%20the%20fungus%20reproduce.

In the video game and HBO show The Last of Us, humans struggle to survive after an infectious fungus turns ordinary people into zombies. Creators of the franchise didn't look far for inspiration — the series is based off a real-life species of fungus that performs a kind of "mind control" on its insect hosts.

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, otherwise known as cordyceps or zombie-ant fungus, infects insects such as ants or spiders. Like other parasites, cordyceps drains its host completely of nutrients before filling its body with spores that will let the fungus reproduce. It then compels the insect to seek height and remain there before it expels these spores, infecting other nearby insects in the process.

SHORT WAVE​

The Zombies That Walk Among Us​

Bryn Dentinger, a biology professor at the University of Utah and curator of mycology at the Natural History Museum of Utah, told NPR that the fungus is one of the best known, and probably most commonly encountered, kinds of organisms with this mind control capability.
=================================================
Sometimes reality can be really nasty, for example a mind-control fungus.

 

[KingLeo]

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/30/1151868673/the-last-of-us-cordyceps-zombie-fungus-real#:~:text=Ophiocordyceps%20unilateralis%2C%20otherwise%20known%20as,will%20let%20the%20fungus%20reproduce.

In the video game and HBO show The Last of Us, humans struggle to survive after an infectious fungus turns ordinary people into zombies. Creators of the franchise didn't look far for inspiration — the series is based off a real-life species of fungus that performs a kind of "mind control" on its insect hosts.

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, otherwise known as cordyceps or zombie-ant fungus, infects insects such as ants or spiders. Like other parasites, cordyceps drains its host completely of nutrients before filling its body with spores that will let the fungus reproduce. It then compels the insect to seek height and remain there before it expels these spores, infecting other nearby insects in the process.

SHORT WAVE​

The Zombies That Walk Among Us​

Bryn Dentinger, a biology professor at the University of Utah and curator of mycology at the Natural History Museum of Utah, told NPR that the fungus is one of the best known, and probably most commonly encountered, kinds of organisms with this mind control capability.
=================================================
Sometimes reality can be really nasty, for example a mind-control fungus.

Except Ophiocordyceps unilateralis does not infect humans.

 

[yankintx]

I am so over zombies

Stay buried please

 

[HIP56948]

What's your na-amm..who's your daddy...is he rich like me.?

 

[JacksinPA]

Except Ophiocordyceps unilateralis does not infect humans.

The post said it did not infect humans...yet.

 

[KingLeo]

The post said it did not infect humans...yet.

It is a huge YET.
The fungi would have to seriously mutate over multiple generations over a considerable period of time before it could even begin to threaten humans, or even any mammals.

 

[JacksinPA]

It is a huge YET.
The fungi would have to seriously mutate over multiple generations over a considerable period of time before it could even begin to threaten humans, or even any mammals.

So you have the gift of being able to see the future?

 

[Mr Person]

Dried ground cordyceps is sold as a "dietary supplement"

 

[Mr Person]

I am so over zombies

Stay buried please

I haven't watched any of these zombie shows/movies. I hope they are shown as being insanely strong, because.... six feet of dirt is an awful lot to force one's way out of.