The Zombie Fungus
- Chipco Preserve
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Maeve Kiley
The Modern Zombie
Zombies have taken a sizable bite out of the world of pop culture. Dangerous, cursed, reanimated corpses have their origin in Haitian legend and folklore, but the word ‘zombie’ was not used until an 1838 newspaper clipping. Since then, authors and Hollywood directors popularized stories of the reanimated deceased, but they did not receive global acclaim until the 1968 movie, Night of the Living Dead, which is hailed as the first “Modern Zombie Movie.” Since then, the zombie genre has exploded.
The 2000s and early 2010s saw a zombie explosion, with television shows such as The Walking Dead and movies such as 28 Days Later thrilling the world with tales of zombie hunters and survival. Popular books such as World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide theorized what a world ravaged by zombies would look like. Zombies appeared at every horror convention, and every Halloween, children and adults donned their spookiest zombie costumes.
As the 2010s came to a close, the zombie genre aged with it. Audiences grew bored of the “cheesy” brain-eating zombies and desired something fresher. In 2014, the video game company Naughty Dog released their zombie survival game, The Last of Us. It exploded with popularity because it had creatively woven into its story a new type of zombie based on scientific reality. The video game brought widespread attention towards one of nature’s scariest fungi and informed the public of the existence of real-life zombies. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, or simply called “Cordyceps”, had arrived on the scene.
The Scientific Zombie
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis goes by many names, including “the Ant-Eating Fungus” or “The Zombie Fungus.” It used to be classified under the genus Cordyceps and is commonly referred to as such in casual conversation. It is an insect-pathogenic fungus famous for infecting and controlling the bodies of carpenter ants.
This fascinating fungus, predominantly found in tropical rainforests, was discovered by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859. Fossils have suggested that this fungus dates back almost 48 million years, and a recent discovery in Thailand helped identify a new strain. This fungus is unique, powerful, and rather unsettling.
The function of the “Zombie Fungus” is to infect and control carpenter ants to aid in its species' continued survival. The fungus will release pores that attach to the carpenter ant’s exoskeleton. This pore will gradually germinate and penetrate the ant’s cuticle to gain access into its body. The fungus slowly grows inside, dominating the ant’s muscles and brain, which makes the ant its prisoner. The fungi can now chemically and physically manipulate the ant’s behavior, hence turning the ant into a zombie.
The purpose of this parasitic takeover is to force the ant to climb to a specific height, “death grip” bite into a leaf, and then die. The fungus will consume the ant’s cadaver and grow a stalk from the tip of the ant’s head. The stalk, called a “fruiting body”, will release new, fresh spores to infect other ants. This parasitic form of repopulation can take over entire colonies, reducing thousands of ants into mindless, fungi-controlled zombies.
Is It Dangerous To Humans?
Frightening as they seem, the “Zombie Fungus” currently poses no threat to humans and likely never will.
The evolution of the fungus is highly specialized to infect insects that have an incredibly different biology compared to humans. Most notably, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis cannot survive inside a human body temperature. The complex biology of humans, which includes skin barriers and an advanced immune system, makes it nearly impossible for a fungal force to penetrate inside. Lastly, our neurological capabilities are simply too advanced for the fungus, which is programmed and accustomed to target ants with a much simpler neurological structure.
However, scientists are concerned about the rising threat of fungus. Although Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is incredibly unlikely to target humans, the rising temperature that coincides with climate change is starting a worrying trend in fungal spread.
The Worrying Rise of Fungus
If temperature continues to rise, an increase in fungal capabilities and the spread of disease will follow. This
would pose a risk to human and agricultural health, affecting the world on a global scale. New fungal pathogens have already emerged due to the warmer temperatures. The Candida auris was first reported in 2009 and is a result of fungi adapting to the rising temperatures. This multi-drug resistant yeast has become a significant global health risk that can cause severe illness in hospitalized patients and those with respiratory ailments. Candida auris and other fungal diseases will expand and adapt to new regions due to the change in global temperature.
Increased usage of antifungal drugs in agriculture increases the likelihood of resistance in fungi. These dangerous strands could infect crops and cause widespread illness to those who consume the product. Cross-resistance can also occur in different types of clinical antifungal drugs, affecting important medications and treatments.
Although Ophiocordyceps unilateralis may not cause a zombie apocalypse, it is still important to learn and be aware of the natural world and how human interference can affect the delicate balance set in place.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, September 3). Increasing threat of spread of antimicrobial-resistant fungus in healthcare facilities. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0320-cauris.html
How a parasitic fungus turns ants into “zombies.” Animals. (n.d.). https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/cordyceps-zombie-fungus-takes-over-ants
MediLexicon International. (n.d.). Cordyceps in humans: Research and more. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/cordyceps-in-humans
Murray, M. (2023, April 11). Zombie fungus from “the last of us” spurs increased interest in fungal research.
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. https://www.emsl.pnnl.gov/news/zombie-fungus-last-us-spurs-increased-interest-fungal-research
“The last of us” apocalypse is not realistic, but rising threat of fungal pathogens is. (n.d.-c). https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/the-last-of-us-apocalypse-is-not-realistic-but-rising-threat-of-fungal-pathogens-is/