Zombie-Creating Fungi: The Science Behind HBO's The Last of Us

HBO's hit show The Last of Us has a simple scientific premise. In real life, scientists have known for years that certain fungi can take over certain insects and manipulate them into helping the fungus grow - even at the expense of the insect's life.

The show takes artistic liberties, stretching this natural occurrence into a fictional, global catastrophe by fabricating a way for such fungus to take over humans and turn them into zombies, of sorts, which chase, bite and infect, creating more fungus zombies.

Here's the science behind the show's premise. The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann was inpired by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, a fungus which has been known to take over bullet ants. They do so by attaching to the ant's muscles and controlling its nervous system.

When attached to the ant, the fungus causes it to behave differently, but while going undetected by the rest of the colony. Typically sick ants are ejected from colonies to prevent infections from spreading. However, ants don't seem to be able to detect fungus-spreading ants.

For the most part, whenever the fungus takes over an insect, it causes it to leave its home and go to a climate that better suits the growth of the fungus. The fungus then forces the insect to bite a leaf on the north side of a plant and wait for the insect to die.

After the host insect has died, the fungus then feeds on the corpse until it can send spores out to infect new insects. Researchers have found over 200 fungi that can do this on 10 different types of insects and spiders.

Unlike zombie lore, however, fungi do not have a goal of infecting 100% of any given colony. They ensure there are only a few infected members of any given group, in order to maintain the balanced ecosystem.

An additional difference between the fact and fiction of fungi zombies, is the infection of the brain. Ophiocordyceps do not seem to touch the brain of host organisms at all. They solely are found around muscles. Nervous system control is done through bioactive compounds.

While fungi that can control ants, flies and other insects are fact, humans being controlled by fungi are thus far still fiction. Fungi manipulating warm blooded animals would require millions of years of genetic changes, as so far, fungi evolve to infect just 1 simple species.

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