The fungus that causes the post-apocalyptic world in The Last of Us it exists in reality, although it only affects insects and humans are safe. Specifically, the creators of the original video game, released in 2013, were inspired by the interaction of a type belonging to the ophiocordyceps genus, previously classified as cordyceps, with the bullet ant, a terrifying scene that the program captured in 2006. Planet Earthde David Attenborough. In the recording you can see how the organism takes over the ant, which begins to suffer convulsions and move away from its nest, before causing its death. Then, the stem of the ophiocordyceps begins to sprout from the interior and from there it shoots spores onto the rest of the colony. “The fungus, which has no intelligence, controls the ant’s brain,” David Hughes, a biologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explained in a talk a few years ago, who consulted on the plot of the video game created by Naughty Dog.
Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo, a researcher at the National Center for Microbiology of the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid and an expert in fungal infections, analyzes why this type of fungus could never infect humans, but highlights the documentation work behind the history. Why is she concerned that a fungal pandemic could occur? How does climate change affect? Would someone like Ellie have to be found to achieve a cure?
You can find all the information in the video that accompanies this news.
