Can ‘The Last of Us’ outbreak happen in real life? Molecular biologist says no
Posted Feb 18, 2023 12:30:00 PM.
Cordyceps is the name of the fungus that takes over the minds of the majority of humans in the video game adaptation television show on HBO called 'The Last of Us' and it is in fact a real, mind-altering fungus in insects.
The game's creators took the idea from 'zombie ants' to create the cinematic video game that now has sold over 20 million copies. The TV show premiered last month, seeing millions of viewers per episode, and it has sparked the conversation: Can Cordyceps take over humans?
Dr. Rebecca Shapiro, professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the College of Biological Sciences explained why she thinks this debate has captured the imagination of so many people.
“Fungus is a kingdom of life that we often don't understand a lot about, despite the fact that there are so many different species. There are some species that can cause disease in humans, not the Cordyceps, but there are others.”
Most of the science community is saying that a Cordyceps-related apocalypse is extremely unlikely for a multitude of reasons. Shapiro told the Mike Farwell Show why she doesn't see it happening.
“For the most part, organisms like this that cause disease in one particular species, in this case ants, they are super well-adapted to that environment,” said Shapiro. “For it to make the leap into humans, which is a very different environment, including the fact that humans are warm-blooded, making them a different temperature than ants, it just starts to seem incredibly unlikely. It would probably take millions of years of evolution.”
Shapiro added that most of the fungal diseases that are currently known can't be easily transmitted between humans, making the prospect of a fungal pandemic even more unlikely, as it would probably be contained rather quickly.
Microbiologists might be ruling a Cordyceps fungus apocalypse out for now, but as the show eerily depicted, nobody saw it coming, because nobody thought it was possible.
