A microbiologist explains why the Cordyceps infection in The Last of Us would not affect humans in real life. In Naughty Dog’s video game and the HBO adaptation, the Cordyceps infection is a widespread fungus that turns humans into zombie-like creatures, causing a global pandemic and the collapse of society. In both the video game and the HBO series, the Cordyceps infection is inspired by the real fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which primarily affects ants and significantly affects their behavior.
In a new video from WIREDMicrobiologist Dan Buckley answered the Internet’s burning questions about microbiology, including whether Cordyceps infection of The Last of Us is realistic. Watch the following part of the video from minute 6:30:
Buckley explains that The Ophiocordyceps fungus only attacks insects as they are cold-blooded and unable to influence people who are warm-blooded. Read his full explanation below:
The clickers you’ve seen where the fungus infects people by coming out of the person’s head, I wouldn’t worry too much about that unless you’re an insect. The Ophiocordyceps fungus infects many different types of insects, gets into their brains and then causes those insects to move in a way that promotes the spread of the fungus so more ants become zombies, but insects are cold-blooded. They’re very different from us and so I wouldn’t think that this fungus infects people. If I were worried about zombie infection in people, I would really think about rabies. Rabies is transmitted by a bite. If you’re not vaccinated or treated quickly, it basically gets into your brain and can make you want to maybe bite people. So we have a kind of zombie infection, we just have really good vaccines against it right now.
Why the Cordyceps infection from “Last Of Us” would have no effect on humans in real life
The human body temperature is too high
The Cordyceps infection in The Last of Us is based on a real fungus called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as Cordyceps or zombie ant fungus because it infects mainly ants but also spiders, causing them to climb to an elevated location that provides optimal conditions for the fungus to grow. After the ant dies, the fungus spreads spores in the surrounding area and infects other ants. The ability of the Cordyceps fungus to cause zombie-like symptoms in ants was the inspiration for The Last of Us Creator Neil Druckmann to incorporate it into the story.
While Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is real and infects ants on a large scale, it cannot affect humans, Buckley explains. Insects are cold-blooded, making them perfect hosts for the fungus to grow and thrive. Humans are not susceptible to infection with the Cordyceps fungus due to their higher body temperature.but also because of their highly developed immune system. Cordyceps in The Last of Us differs from the true fungus in several ways, including the way it infects hosts and how infected hosts are connected to each other.
While Ophiocordyceps unilateralis cannot infect humans, Fungi could still become a real threat to humans. As already mentioned during The Last of UsIn the opening scene, global warming would allow the evolution of Cordyceps and possible infection of humans. The Last of Us imagines a future in which this frightening possibility comes to pass, deliberately crossing the line between fiction and reality.
Source: WIRED
