Entertainment
‘The Last Of Us’ Zombie Fungus is Kind of Real
Microbiologist Dan Buckley joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about microbiology, including why the plot of “The Last Of Us” isn’t entirely far-fetched. Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►► Listen to the Get WIRED podcast ►► Want more WIRED? Get the magazine ►► Follow WIRED: Instagram ►► Twitter ►► Facebook ►►…
@thatkindacoolguy
September 30, 2024 at 12:15 pm
Here’s the best part: they leave the nervous system alone. Thus, if it did affect people, then you’d still be sentient while puppetted.
@metaphysical.cat.x
September 30, 2024 at 3:49 pm
Thanks for the two sentence horror story 😅
@GermanNightTrain
October 2, 2024 at 5:50 am
What do you mean? Who is they? The brain is (the main) part of the nervous system?
@thatkindacoolguy
October 2, 2024 at 1:55 pm
@@GermanNightTrain the fungus ignores the nervous system. The brain and brain stem are ignored, while the fungus controls the muscles. Thus you are alive and lucid while being controlled until you die.
@geetalal885
September 30, 2024 at 12:23 pm
“Fun-jhi” 😂
@m3-kimi-one52
September 30, 2024 at 12:29 pm
Bro, is not even addressing it. Just state that , if like the show the fungai would adapt, then god knows what could happen 😂
@Th3laughingman
September 30, 2024 at 12:38 pm
soon as he said fun ji i was done with this. the man is a bozo
@Random-pv5fx
September 30, 2024 at 1:42 pm
Maybe that’s just how he grew up saying it
@vinacar
September 30, 2024 at 12:46 pm
I had a fungal infection in my lungs 2 years ago
@phluphfy69
October 1, 2024 at 2:36 pm
certain fungi are able to grow in the human body, like valley fever is a fungal infection. I think he just means that the way ophiocordyceps specifically works, it would not be able to take hold in humans the same way
@nettlesandsnakes9138
September 30, 2024 at 12:50 pm
But you should be worried about fungus infection doing other things, like ruining your foot.
@mykeljmoney
October 2, 2024 at 11:14 am
Never go barefoot in a public place. Athlete’s foot is incredibly and annoyingly itchy
@sirtimothy92
September 30, 2024 at 12:59 pm
He sounded like an infected individual trying to get us lower our guard
@b1gg5y
September 30, 2024 at 1:16 pm
Evolve my bollocks, you mean made.
@pippa3150
September 30, 2024 at 3:34 pm
There are actually several…zombie…bacteria that will cause necrotizing fasciitis, including the famous E. coli O157:H7. H. pylori, V. vulnificus, P. aerugonosa, etc.
@krozcek
September 30, 2024 at 3:53 pm
“right now”
@marksalamon619
September 30, 2024 at 5:41 pm
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii can infect the brains of mammals, including humans, and change behavior. Domestic cats who prey on rodents with this parasite can infect their owners…
@540i-v2w
September 30, 2024 at 6:03 pm
Stop giving rabies ideas pls
@hellothere9167
October 1, 2024 at 4:56 am
I wonder why people keep falling for this. You literally have the modern library of Alexandria on your hands. 5 mins could tell you how impossible it is
@Air_island_wubbox
October 1, 2024 at 11:31 am
ophiocordyceps unilateralis this fungus?
@kevinsaternus5106
October 1, 2024 at 7:16 pm
Yes that’s the name of it
@phluphfy69
October 1, 2024 at 2:37 pm
The only thing other than vaccines we have going for us against rabies is that it kills the host too quickly. Within days of showing symptoms, the host is dead and cannot transmit the virus further.
@flipcoin6301
October 1, 2024 at 4:08 pm
Welcome to our fungus overlords.
@zettonhz
October 1, 2024 at 4:09 pm
Vaccine is the key to prevent zombie infection, people. Unless you want to try to fight the pathogen with your unvaccinated immune system.
@uptownbully7992
October 2, 2024 at 11:00 am
Yea I was gonna say rabies would be the one but we’re too good at avoiding this so I won’t be able to show off my zombie killing skills 😢
@shamelessstacib7351
October 2, 2024 at 11:39 am
He said fun-jai?
@quinnzykir
October 2, 2024 at 12:06 pm
Plus it would probably kill people after a while so we’d only have to worry for a little bit
@SolarDaisy
October 3, 2024 at 1:36 am
You assume it wont evolve due to global warming
@nutshang
October 3, 2024 at 3:26 am
Global warming would probably make it less deadly
@rakelodakel
October 3, 2024 at 8:31 am
If it did, it would make you climb up to a high spot, clamber on and then kill you. It doesn’t make the ants it infects into “zombies”.
@nutshang
October 3, 2024 at 9:10 am
@rakelodakel yeah, it would do things to improve it’s fitness. People misunderstand evolution a lot.
@adm4939
October 3, 2024 at 1:51 am
“… for now” 😬
@kiernanmooney6210
October 3, 2024 at 2:39 am
lol turns out we’ve had the real zombie killer under control the entire time.
@jackalfire6797
October 3, 2024 at 5:24 am
Fun-jy? Why you say it like that
@slovnicurling9808
October 3, 2024 at 9:21 am
“If I was worried about a zombie infection for people, I would really think about tik tok”
@TheBadday78
October 3, 2024 at 9:26 am
We could experiment and see if we could make it infect us wouldnt be the first time weaponizing virus, bacteria or fungus
@KikomochiMendoza
October 3, 2024 at 9:29 am
Ive heard that the biggest factor why a cordy something fungal infection hasn’t affected humans or even mammals is because the inside of our bodies are too hot for fungus to thrive.
@SnObUnNiE04
October 3, 2024 at 9:52 am
Kinda like how he exactly says that insects are cold-blooded and thats why the fungus won’t affect us?
@harrybeaumont2251
October 3, 2024 at 9:47 am
I read about a frog that had been found with fungus growing out of it, sometimes in the last few weeks. It’s evolving..
@SnObUnNiE04
October 3, 2024 at 9:51 am
“We have really good vaccines for it… right now. ”
I think more people need to think about what those last two little words mean in this context.
@TheDarkPacific
October 3, 2024 at 11:46 am
Truth. Rabies being a killer is what stops its transmission rate. Most either get help right away or just die. 😅
@pairot01
October 3, 2024 at 10:16 am
I never thought of rabies as a zombie like infection, but it makes perfect sensd
@coreymartin6363
October 3, 2024 at 10:31 am
Fortunately, we can communicate worldwide and have effective rabies vaccines, as well as treatment (post-exposure, pre-symptom).
Heck, you even have a chance of beating it naturally without brain damage…like 0.00000001% or something.
@coreymartin6363
October 3, 2024 at 10:36 am
Please, nobody read my comment and take rabies lightly. If you’re not vaccinated and are bitten, go to the hospital IMMEDIATELY! If you wait for symptoms, you’re dead.
I read about ONE case EVER where someone survived without brain damage without immediate treatment, and I don’t even know if it’s a reliable source.
@dejesusrussell
October 3, 2024 at 11:22 am
This scientist looks like he’s never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down
@TheDarkPacific
October 3, 2024 at 11:44 am
Both are great candidates to later become what can be described as a zombie infection. Fungus are evolving to withstand higher temps due to climate change. And virus mutating happens all time 😅
@urbro2
October 3, 2024 at 12:02 pm
I dont think people have the urge to bite others when sick with rabies. Its animals acting confused cause they have no idea of whats happening to them
@plants_before_people5329
October 3, 2024 at 5:50 pm
Well no, rabies does actually make the animals more aggressive, specifically evolved that way cause that was effective in spreading itself through saliva.
In Dutch we call the disease dog madness specifically because of it. And we don’t have cases of humans biting each other with rabies cause the symptoms are so clear that a person is hospitalised before they could even show signs of increased agressiveness.
@heehoknoobo2518
October 3, 2024 at 12:23 pm
Why does he look like a younger version of an older version of himself in the 80s
@EveryTimeIDavid
October 3, 2024 at 12:51 pm
But we are finding more and more fungus that are becoming capable of growing in the human body. Dead or alive. As temperatures rise, they will continue to evolve.
@andreashabermas7964
October 3, 2024 at 1:49 pm
Not a fungus, but half the world’s population is infected with toxoplasmosis, which has a slight mind-altering effect.
@stspy212
October 3, 2024 at 2:36 pm
Viruses aren’t really an issue. We all saw how quickly we developed an mRNA based attack against a virus that was sweeping the world with COVID.
But a fungus? Fungi have been plaguing us since the beginning.
Our only saving grace against them, for now, is that we are warm blooded and fungi doesn’t thrive in the environment that is the inside of our bodies.
But evolution is all about getting life to thrive in environments that its previous iterations could not survive in.
Should fungi ever become able to thrive within our bodies, we’re in trouble. We can’t just vaccine that away.
Oh, and humans have been running colder and colder and colder since we began tracking average human temperature some century or two ago, and we don’t know why.
Should the trend continue, and there’s no reason to think it won’t, eventually the inside of our bodies will become suitable to some fungi.
@EdgyShooter
October 3, 2024 at 4:03 pm
Rabies is terrifying because once you get to the really obvious symptoms, ie fear of water, you’re done, it’s already too late
@LuisQuinones-lb8fw
October 3, 2024 at 4:12 pm
People are just looking for excuses to spread fear specially religion they love using this and our games to spread lies and fear
@Dthorobad
October 3, 2024 at 4:59 pm
Tell us you never watched the last of us on Netflix without telling us you never watched the last of us on Netflix.
Dude, literally goes into a scientific diatribe about how something might possibly influence the biology of certain forms of mycelia to adapt to warmer climates… sound kinda similar to what we’re goin through on this planet?
@plants_before_people5329
October 3, 2024 at 5:53 pm
Well for one it’s on HBO Max, not Netflix. And also, he’s an expert explaining why it’s not likely to happen in real life.
He’s not commenting on the show being bad or unbelievable, he’s just talking about real life. You can’t expect a show about zombies to be realistic, cause zombies (like in the show) just aren’t
@zzz181085
October 3, 2024 at 5:04 pm
Young George Lucas?
@dswcartoons
October 3, 2024 at 5:45 pm
Insects watching this video: *worries*
@TheEagleofSteel
October 3, 2024 at 6:50 pm
You don’t need a rabies vaccine, if you get bitten just down a tube of horse dewormer.
@LivingGuy484
October 3, 2024 at 7:54 pm
So… If it could survive in our bodies, then…
@MH-tg4jt
October 3, 2024 at 10:29 pm
CWD is progressing. That’ll be an absolute niightmare.
@Darius_The_CIairvoyant
October 4, 2024 at 3:18 am
I actually came up with a book (dont u steal my idea 👀) where there is a rapidly mutating rabies virus that can even be transmitted by insects like mosquitoes and it got so bad they nuked and burnt the whole surface of the earth in hopes their future generations could revive it
@AbdulHalim-mo6fq
October 4, 2024 at 5:45 am
But people with rabies die, don’t they?
@silverikov7
October 4, 2024 at 5:48 am
So we not going to talk about the guy that has done experiments with this fungus with human blood to adopt to human.
@BAbhijeet
October 4, 2024 at 5:56 am
My exact thoughts…people often forget the real-life disease which literally turns PEOPLE in to zombies….RABIES
@MyNameIsSalo
October 4, 2024 at 6:20 am
Zombie infection will never be the same as what we see in media. Our control over spread of bacteria is too good.
What’s more likely to happen is mass panic. You saw how many people protested when they were told to wear masks during Covid. Mass protests like that and lots of unnecessary fear create way more danger than any virus ever can. Enough public fear for safety can completely destabilise the government and country and turn it into a war zone. So in that sense, the zombie infection is real, except that we already are zombies and just need the right amount of public fear and misinformation to trigger us to become a zombie
@bo4-x2n
October 4, 2024 at 7:05 am
what you SHOULD worry about is humans reverse engineering things like ophiocordiceps to create something out of a nightmare.. there is more fungi and parasites out there that do these sort of functions.
@timo4463
October 4, 2024 at 7:43 am
You can’t controll a virus…
@shawncooper8131
October 4, 2024 at 7:11 am
Well put.
@hakijin
October 4, 2024 at 7:28 am
Dont worry about as long as the fungus does not have to adapt to temperature that is similar to the human body heat
@_surreal99
October 4, 2024 at 8:12 am
Nom nom nom!
@DeuceEX22
October 4, 2024 at 8:17 am
I never quite understand why people wanted zombies to be a real life thing, when the very concept of it has already broken the first law of thermodynamics
@docholliday9058
October 4, 2024 at 8:33 am
So, what you are saying, our department should focus on combining the two
@aaronngui7938
October 4, 2024 at 8:56 am
Don’t have to wait for sentient mushrooms to trigger a zombie invasion, there are already many brainwashed by kremlinazi propaganda
@aceystar1478
October 4, 2024 at 9:03 am
So less last of us and more 28 days later
@illegalsmilez
October 4, 2024 at 9:33 am
Isn’t there a parasite carried by cats that infects people and alters brain activity? Or is that just a myth?
@PitchBlackRoses
October 4, 2024 at 9:38 am
I already saw a scientist debunk it and Yes we are warm blooded and it would kill all fungi with the heat they wouldnt survive. and Rabies is the closest thing to the “zombie infection”
@TakoToli
October 4, 2024 at 10:13 am
What about the fungus Candida auris?
@itisi5799
October 4, 2024 at 10:25 am
Lets breed rabies and the fungi virus.
@triemond9961
October 4, 2024 at 2:08 pm
Bro just casually dropped the fact that we are technically in a zombie apocalypse???
@lonestar2078
October 4, 2024 at 5:18 pm
So it won’t be the Last of Us, it’ll be Left 4 Dead
@CasualExistence95
October 4, 2024 at 9:17 pm
It’s a serious topic and an informative video, but this mans hair is just perfect. Looks like a gdamn lego-piece, and I say that in the best way possible I friggin love lego
@t-shirts1260
October 5, 2024 at 12:25 am
“right now” great thanks for the new nightmare, michel scott was right
@NikHuhr
October 5, 2024 at 2:07 am
“We just have really good vaccines for it right now” bro 99.9% of people who get rabies die. It’s the single most lethal disease known. Diagnosis is essentially an immediate death sentence.
@anthonymackay3788
October 5, 2024 at 3:03 am
We live in the reality where we dont have the “cool” “ish” Zombies. We get Fent zombies, pretty underwhelming
@BoostedMonkey05
October 5, 2024 at 3:35 am
Probably the biggest plot hole in the last of us is that a lot of people who venture into spore ridden areas are only wearing PPE on their face. Their clothes and skin are completely exposed. And getting into a fight in a spore ridden area will basically result in wounds getting the nastiest yeast infection. And when you get out of the area, people don’t even wash themselves. They just take off the masks then go about as if they aren’t covered with the deadliest allergen since peanut dust.
@laubra5227
October 5, 2024 at 8:46 am
Classic FEDRA propaganda
@barbariangamin5136
October 5, 2024 at 9:35 am
Zombie implies death then reanimation. I don’t think really have anything close to zombies irl
@ivanfelipe240
October 5, 2024 at 11:02 am
To be fair rabies can be treat with vaccination before symptoms show up so basically for nay suspicious bites you should get the rabies vaccination.
@jwray3529
October 5, 2024 at 11:15 am
Fun-Ji…
@AllMostOliver
October 5, 2024 at 11:41 am
some nerd already playin with the funguy and is gonna release it be4 we kno it
@thedarkhand5169
October 5, 2024 at 11:44 am
Or all you need is a nutcrack nut.Job somewhere to make the virus And we’re all screwed
@IMPARTIAL92
October 5, 2024 at 11:49 am
😂
@yeetyredding7697
October 5, 2024 at 12:15 pm
They literally mention this in the show” yes in our current world they have no reason to evolve to infect humans but what if the world changed getting warmer getting the fungus used to hotter environments
@DaxterKing
October 5, 2024 at 1:36 pm
scientist vs fiction and you chose fiction
@catman3955
October 5, 2024 at 1:01 pm
If it does infect you you wont be actively trying to eat people, just climb up to a higher plaxe
@MattHadder
October 5, 2024 at 1:18 pm
The end result of rabies is death. Zombies dont die. If you start showing symptoms of rabies, its too late to survive.
@Jdogg88
October 5, 2024 at 2:59 pm
Those 28 days later would be a true nightmare
@TheMithoslediel
October 5, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Fungi is already adapting to warmer environments tho. Give it a couple decades and we are done for.
@KCWarriner
October 5, 2024 at 5:20 pm
‘Brought to you by someone definitely not infected by the TLoU cordyceps fungus’
@Ash-re2fe
October 5, 2024 at 5:51 pm
To be clear, no human has EVER bitten (or wanted to bite) another human under the influence of rabies.
@brianfox340
October 5, 2024 at 7:53 pm
Wtf? Why did you have to add “for now” at the end? I didn’t need that thought.
@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs
October 5, 2024 at 10:43 pm
I’m more worried about valley fever
@Nimrod336
October 6, 2024 at 12:32 am
DONT JYNX IT
@o_mag_pie_o666
October 6, 2024 at 12:57 am
It only takes one mutation
@epideme3416
October 6, 2024 at 2:56 am
That’s adapting not evolving the fungus has already evolved to be a perfect system and if it did people wouldn’t eat people they would climb trees to deposit spores 😂
@prestinryan5373
October 6, 2024 at 4:19 am
To my knowledge, there has never been a recorded instance of a human transmitting rabies to another human by bite. Some symptoms that manifest are hydrophobia and hypersalivation, as well as agitation, vomiting and fever.
@Asmodis4
October 6, 2024 at 2:58 pm
thats the “dumb” rabies. thats the form humans get
sometimes dogs or wild animals get this version, too.
@hershmergersh6733
October 6, 2024 at 5:08 am
Don’t need any virus to turn people into zombies. Smart phones have already done it
@apollovaljean3076
October 6, 2024 at 6:12 am
Why you say fun-ji? It’s pronounced fun- guy and fun -gus. Not fun-ji and fun -jus
@Asmodis4
October 6, 2024 at 2:52 pm
i say PILZ and now you.
@daywalker3735
October 6, 2024 at 10:58 am
“Wouldn’t be worried because it infects insects”
Yea but WHAT IF
@phoenix6276
October 6, 2024 at 1:02 pm
Then my guy hasn’t seen the actual start to the game where climate change forced the fungus to withstand warmer temperatures.
@Asmodis4
October 6, 2024 at 2:52 pm
not gonna happen, no matter what. you CANT get such a heat resistance in the time this fungus have until it is to warm and they will die out.
THATS the problem with climate change, it is to fast. such a change not within 1000 years but within 100 years is REALLY challenging.
@reznovvazileski3193
October 6, 2024 at 5:13 pm
I think the whole point of using a fungus for the plot of TLOU is that preventative measures for fungal infections are quite limited compared to viral and bacterial assaults. I believe they said as much in the start of the series that the very reason it’s so dangerous is that people are so nonchalant about fungal predators. Now obviously a series and reality aren’t the same thing but it was a clever justification because it turns your rationalization against you :p
@TheWindingMUSTARD
October 6, 2024 at 5:15 pm
A prion disease spread through saliva or blood would make a lot of sense
@TheSleepSteward
October 6, 2024 at 9:37 pm
Why would rabies make you wanna bite other people? Rabies affects humans differently.
@AL3X1KUS
October 7, 2024 at 12:22 am
This “real life zombie virus” found in Scotland only affects spiders. Do not go crazy over nothing.
@nickschumacher4309
October 7, 2024 at 12:44 am
In “The last of Us” game lore, it’s kinda hinted at in the first game that it was fungal infection made in a lab, likely with military funding, as they said it started in the city, and the neighbor that you first see that’s infected was a scientist who worked in the city.
They were likely working on it as a mind control method, as the parasitic mushroom grows on the brain and effects mood and personality.
Further proof that it was man made in a lab, was the military response time.
@NightWLKR1
October 7, 2024 at 1:00 am
Yall remember,ever the deer virus?
@diamond.boyboy
October 7, 2024 at 5:40 am
Totally off topic, but this guy’s hair color is beautiful
@N_NM-lt7lb
October 7, 2024 at 2:06 pm
Insects watching this must be sweating bullets right now
@martindovah3810
October 7, 2024 at 8:21 pm
One important thing about rabies, to those who don’t know: rabies like to sit and wait in your spine after infection. The incubation time is unpredictable, and it can sometimes take years before symptoms show. If there’s a possibility that you have been infected with rabies, seek medical attention *immediately.* As long as you are asymptomatic, rabies is entirely curable, and you’re good to go. The moment you begin to exhibit symptoms, you are almost certainly dead (seek medical attention anyway, but don’t get your hopes up).
@lazy0nara
October 7, 2024 at 9:13 pm
Lies, he works for umbrella
@Soulintent95
October 7, 2024 at 9:43 pm
Actual experts say it will never evolve to affects humans.
@aroccoification
October 7, 2024 at 11:20 pm
We don’t need that our overlords are already parasites that feed off of us and manipulate us to do their bidding. It literally the metaphor zombie movies were invented to describe
@user-li9vt5mi2n
October 8, 2024 at 4:10 am
What if rising global temperatures causes a gene mutation for survival in higher temperatures, in turn higher survival in the warm blooded creatures?
@UltimateGamer34
October 8, 2024 at 11:10 am
Dont give people the idea to start a zombie apocalypse with rabies
@OrderOfTheGash
October 8, 2024 at 6:55 pm
When the Lord of the Rings books were written, were these the same people asking if that could really happen?
@thegamingfrenzy698
October 9, 2024 at 10:08 am
I wonder what would happen if we were to take a big amount of this fungus and placed it inside a dead body .
@leebode4643
October 9, 2024 at 11:24 am
If we needed this video, we are already lost.