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Asked by danieljohnglisson to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB, Ruth on 18 Jun 2013.
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Peter Balfe answered on 18 Jun 2013:
As zombies don’t actually exist, no. BUT do check out this website from the Center for Disease Control in the USA on what to do in the event of a zombie invasion:
http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/
It’s not a wind up, the CDC do really have this site!
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Katy Brown answered on 18 Jun 2013:
I don’t think it would be possible to make a virus which would bring dead people back as zombies – once we have died, our bodies quickly break down, so even if you could wake people up they wouldn’t be able to do much!
Viruses can be used as a tool to add new genes to animals. At the moment, this is usually only done in mice. It’s possible to give mice genes which makes them live a lot longer, but not to bring them back from the dead….
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Ee Lyn Lim answered on 18 Jun 2013:
You might be surprised to hear that there is actually something that comes quite close! A ‘zombie virus’ doesn’t technically bring the dead back to life (zombies aren’t alive, really) – it just takes over a body and makes it do things, like bite people, in order for the ‘virus’ to spread. What we DO have isn’t a virus – it’s a fungal parasite, and it doesn’t affect humans, only ants. When it infects an ant, it takes control of the ant’s nervous system. Then it makes the ant leave its home and climb up onto a plant, where the fungus can spread its spores more easily. It also makes the ant bite down hard on the plant so that it doesn’t fall off when it dies, and then the fungus feeds on the ant from the inside. This ‘zombie fungus’ is called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, and you can read more about it here: http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/news/2011/05/110511-zombies-ants-fungus-infection-spores-bite-noon-animals-science/
But if you’re asking if a real zombie virus, which infects humans, could ever exist – I think it could be possible! If a virus manages to reprogramme the nervous system, so that the body keeps moving even after the brain is dead – it would be an extremely complex virus that’s quite unlikely to appear, but that’s probably what we would call a zombie virus!
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Paul Waines answered on 18 Jun 2013:
If you mean a virus that could turn people into zombies, then no I dont think so, because don’t people have to have died first?! While we’re on the subject of living and dead things, scientists don’t seem able to agree on whether viruses are actually living things or not- this is because they don’t have a lot of the things which living things have, but strangely are able to reproduce. This video talks about viruses and describes why it’s important to scientists to agree on whether something is alive or not…
Comments
PB commented on :
Further to Lyn’s comment, there’s a virus called “iridovirus” which makes woodlice turn a bright blue/purple iridescent colour (hence the name). It also makes the woodlouse climb to the top of a grass stem so the birds can see it easily.
You guessed it, the virus survives passage through the gut of a bird just fine…
See here for details :
http://www.twiv.tv/2010/10/24/twiv-104-the-colony-collapse-blues/