Zombies: Science Vs. Fiction

 

Zombies: Science Vs. Fiction

    For the past few decades, we have seen Hollywood portray zombies to be these undead flesh-eating creatures lacking free will and attacking anything to eat, kill and infect. There are many theories about how zombies came to be but in earlier works we learn that zombies were corpses said to be revived by witchcraft, especially in certain African and Caribbean religions, find out more about the history in this journal article by Isak Niehaus; Witches and Zombies of the South African Lowveld: Discourse, Accusations and Subjective Reality. In this blog we will find out whether Zombies exist in real life or not and what the science is behind the living dead.

Source: Gif Abyss

    In the movie World War Z, we see a former U.N investigator Gerry Lane embark on a daunting journey to keep his family protected and find the source of the infection and a cure or way to stop it’s spread. In the movie, we are unable to learn of the exact origin of the virus. Many characters offer different opinions on the origin. However, we do learn that the first reported case that U.S.A learnt about was in South Korea from Camp Humphreys. On the other hand, Israel intercepted reports from India which could have been the source of the plague. We see groups of zombies chase and attack a target to infect them which shows that the zombies have a pack mentality. In the scene where the zombies climb atop each other to form a pillar allowing them to cross the high wall of the Israel camp is a characteristic found in ants. The only goal of the zombies is to infect and multiply, they are attracted to loud or man-made noises. We see these zombies only go after those who are healthy, humans with a severe illness or injury are ignored by the zombies which leads to the vaccine that helps camouflage humans.

     Now it is time to dive into the science behind zombies, is it possible for living creatures to comeback from the dead? Is there a virus that can takeover the brain and bend it to it’s will? Will there be a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by the walking dead? If you want to find out the answers to these questions, then keep reading.

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     After watching scary movies most of us reassure ourselves that these undead creatures do not actually exist, right? Well, you could not be more wrong! There are in fact several cases of real-life zombies. Firstly, let’s talk about parasites that try and hijack their hosts’ brains. For example: hair worms, these unholy creatures sneak into insects like grasshoppers through the water these insects’ drink. These hair worms set up base camp inside the insects and live there till they are fully grown, now to mate and reproduce these hair worms need to get back into the water. So, in order to achieve its goal, the hair worm secretes proteins that interfere with the grasshoppers brain chemistry overriding its entire existence and then commands the grasshopper to jump into the nearest water body, where the worm can crawl out of the grasshopper and mates. Attached below is an image of a grasshopper vs. a zombiehopper.

Zombiehopper

Grasshopper

    

    Lancet liver fluke is another parasite that takes over its host’s brain, to complete its lifecycle the fluke must move between a grazing animal, a snail, and an ant. Adult liver flukes live in the livers of cows and other such grazing animals. The liver fluke eggs are excreted in the cow’s poop which are then eaten by a snail. Gradually the larvae develop inside the snail for months and then make their way to the snail’s respiratory system where they are smeared in slime and excreted by the snail. They are then devoured by hungry ants; the flukes then break out and charge towards the ant’s cerebral ganglia (ant’s brain) from where they take command of the ant.

Zombified Ant

    These were a few real-life examples of zombies and how parasites force their way into their hosts’ brains and take command. Now let’s talk about human zombies, fortunately as of now, no known virus or parasite can turn humans into undead creatures aimlessly roaming around on the face of the earth to infect others. In short, a virus cannot turn humans into a virus. However, there are many diseases such as rabies or leprosy that may cause humans to have symptoms that match the characteristics of zombies or may give us a zombie like outlook. Read up on such diseases and their symptoms at: Diseases by LewisGale Physicians.

    In the end I would like to leave you with the fact that a zombie apocalypse may be closer now than ever before, thanks to gene editing and biological advancements that can help build a parasite that can hijack the human brain. As spooky as it may sound but that is one of the realities we must face. To find out more about why scientists believe a zombie apocalypse can happen, watch this YouTube video by The Infographics Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7voToyTmOE.

By: GM Afzal