A mutated fungus that turns those it infects into zombies is a real horror storyline. In fact, it is that of the video game “The Last of Us” and its spin-off series. Should we be afraid of mushrooms? If they are not going to “zombify” us, there would however be two very scientific elements behind this story: the existence of fungi which transform ants into zombies and, as an American study has just revealed, the danger posed by the spread of fungal diseases amplified by climate change. All this in a context where diseases caused by fungi, certainly microscopic, are on the increase, mainly in people with weakened immune systems.
Zombies therefore exist… but in the world of insects, more precisely in a species of tropical forest ant, Camponotus leonardi. These are the spores of a fungus, which responds to the sweet name of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which infect the insect and force it to adopt a very particular behavior. The fungus develops in the body and the head of the ant, will atrophy its muscles but also modify its central nervous system.
No, ‘The Last of Us’ didn’t break the curse of video game adaptations
In practice, the worker ant which normally does not stray from the track followed by its comrades, will start to walk randomly, unable to find its way back to the nest.
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