‘The Last Of Us’ Zombie Infection Is Real—Here’s What Scientists Say About The Threat To Humans

Topline

HBO’s hotly anticipated TV adaptation of the acclaimed Last of Us game series premiered on Sunday, showcasing the world after a devastating fungal pandemic wiped out most of humanity, a fictional brain infection that experts say is inspired by a very real set of fungi that can hijack their hosts and turn them into zombies.

HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ adapts a game of the same name from Naughty Dog, which depicts society after … [+] the outbreak of a devastating fungal plague.

Liane Hentscher/HBO

Key Facts

The Last of Us is set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by hordes of “infected,” aggressive, zombified humans who have contracted a parasitic fungal infection—the cordyceps brain infection—which keeps its hosts alive, transforms their bodies as it grows within them and pushes them to bite others to transmit the infection.

The infection is inspired by a real group of fungi, which are often nicknamed “zombie fungus,” that target insects and grow through the host’s body—in some cases, it can precisely control its host’s behavior to spread the infection.

João Araújo, an assistant curator and researcher in mycology at the New York Botanical Garden, told Forbes it’s “very unlikely” such a jump could occur given the vast differences between human and insect biology.

They are “not prepared to invade, establish within and transmit spores from a human body,” Araújo said, adding that they have parasitized insects for more than 130 million years and “cannot even establish themselves in any mammals or non-insect animal.”

David Hughes, a professor of food security at Penn State, head of PlantVillage and a zombie fungus expert who consulted on the first Last of Us game, told Forbes it is “not that fanciful” to imagine an infection crossing into humans—animal diseases often cross over into humans—but said a zombie fungus would “undoubtedly” lose its mind-controlling powers in the process.

It just won’t have the “tools to go and manipulate our brains,” explained Charissa de Bekker, an expert in parasitic fungi and assistant professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, noting that most zombie fungi infect a very limited range of insects, often only one species, which is possible after millions of years evolving alongside one another.

News Peg

The first episode of HBO’s The Last of Us was released on Sunday. The nine-episode series, starring Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel, is an adaptation of the game series of the same name. The first game, released in 2013 by studio Naughty Dog, is one of the most critically well-received and decorated games in history, as well as a commercial success. Since its release it has been remastered, remade and spawned a sequel, The Last of Us Part II. Though based on a game, viewers don’t need to have played the game in order to follow or appreciate the show and it is reportedly a faithful adaptation, albeit with some significant differences.

Contra

Though praising the way The Last of Us depicts parasitic fungi in the games and show, experts highlighted a number of areas where the fiction departed from reality. De Bekker said it was great the infected are shown as living beings—rather than the less natural “undead” commonly deployed in the zombie genre—but that their aggressive behavior is not in line with what infected insects do. Such insects will usually be compelled to climb to a position that ensures optimal spore dispersal to maximize the chances of infecting others. This aggressive behavior is likely inspired by rabies, de Bekker said, which is spread through bites and promotes aggression in hosts. Araújo said it was a “shame” fungal spores have been removed from the show, a decision showmakers said was taken to avoid actors having to wear obstructive gas masks for large portions of the show. Spores, which are a crucial component of the games, “are the most important means of reproduction in fungi” and one of the most interesting aspects of their life cycle, Araújo said.

Tangent

In the games and show, cordyceps invade the host’s brain. This is a major departure from what happens in nature, where zombie fungi actually steer well clear of the brain and manipulate behavior with chemical signals, Hughes said. This discovery was made fairly recently and after the first game had been released.

What To Watch For

A multiplayer Last of Us game is in the works, Naughty Dog has confirmed, and more details are expected in 2023. Presently, details are scarce, though a small amount of concept art has been released. Studio head Neil Druckmann has said the game has been in the works since before The Last of Us Part II launched in 2020 and is the studio’s “most ambitious project” to date. Though not confirmed, fans widely expect Naughty Dog will announce a third title in the game’s main series in the future and Druckmann has openly stated he feels there is “more story to tell.”