video | The science behind The Last of Us, can Ellie really save humanity? | videos

Mushrooms that inspire a post-apocalyptic world in The last of us It does exist, 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 species belonging to the genus Ophiocordyceps, formerly classified as Cordyceps, with the bullet ant, a terrifying sight the program captured in 2006. Planet Earthby 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 Ophiocordyceps will start to emerge from the inside and from there it will release its spores onto the rest of the colony. This was explained by David Hughes, a biologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, in a talk a few years ago, who consulted him on the plot of the video game created by Naughty Dog.

Ana Alastrui-Izquierdo, a researcher at the National Center for Microbiology of the Carlos III Sanitary Institute in Madrid and an expert in fungal infections, analyzes why this type of fungus could never infect humans, but highlights the work of documentation behind the history. Why are you worried about a fungal pandemic? How does climate change affect? Should someone like Ellie be found to achieve a cure?

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