Can Zombie Fungus That Inspired 'The Last Of Us' Infect Humans? What Scientists Say

'The Last of Us' is a popular videogame, that was released by Naughty Dog in 2013. In subsequent years, it won a number of awards and is considered one of the best games of the last decade. And now, a series inspired by the game is streaming on HBO Max and making waves across the world. The game (and the series) is set across a post-apocalyptic United States, where some creatures are infected by a mutated fungus (called zombie fungus).

The concept was well-received by the audience and started a debate if such fungus actually exists in the real world. Experts say it does and cite the example of certain fungi that infect insects.

The Last of Us; WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?! We've filmed cordyceps fungus all over the world; even a Bhutan village where they drink them. And now @hbo @hbomax has made that idea into a series, and yet another chance to get rich gone forever! @cbbc #deadly60 pic.twitter.com/g9LvihHfwu

— Steve Backshall (@SteveBackshall) January 24, 2023

New York Botanical Garden parasitic fungi expert Joao Araujo told National Geographic that it is part of the group Cordyceps. He, however, added that only a certain type of the cordyceps - known as Ophiocordyceps fungi - has the capability for a hostile takeover of a specific insect.

"About 35 of these ophiocordyceps fungi are known to turn insects into zombies, but as many as 600 may exist," Araujo said.

The first signs of infection are erratic and abnormal behaviour, which the fungus causes by hijacking an insect's nervous system by growing around the brain. Scientists are still trying to understand how it does this.

"Our hypothesis is that they have been coevolving for about 45 million years," says Araujo.

The creators of the show said they too were inspired by a documentary series that showed ants infected with a fungus that hijacks their brains, the CNN said in a report.

But can fungi infect and control humans? According to Araujo and other experts, it would require some serious evolutionary work.

"If the fungus really wanted to infect mammals it would require millions of years of genetic changes," Araujo told National Geographic.

"They're super species-specific. They have very refined machinery to interact with their hosts and do these really interesting things like changing behaviour, but they can't even jump from one species to the next, let alone to an organism as distantly related as a human," Charissa de Bekker, an assistant professor in the biology department at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, told CNN.

The fact that humans are immune to ophiocordyceps is reflected in the fact that people in parts of Asia use one type (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) in traditional medicines.

"I inhale Ophiocordyceps spores all the time because I work with them closely," said Araujo, who has still not turned into a zombie.