The premise for The Last of Us, both the video game as well as the HBO hit series,

it centers around the survival of two people who are navigating a post-apocalyptic wasteland

after a mutated fungus infected most of the world's population and basically turn them into

infected, mindless zombies. Now, at first glance, it appears just like any other

interesting take on the zombie genre. But believe it or not, the game is actually based on a real-life

genus of fungus called cortisps, which survive by infecting insects, hijacking their immune systems,

and turning them into vessels that the fungus

then controls, sort of like a Japanese anime mex suit. The fungus parasite then guides the

insect's body to a desirable location where they can then spread to other hosts. If you ever

want to see some creepy but absolutely fascinating nature videos online,

just search for cortisps take over insects through mind control on YouTube.

It basically looks like the insects are alive and well

until the fungus makes them bite down into the ground.

It's called a death bite and they're basically

stuck there forever. And then a giant parasite sprouts out their back, sucks the life out of them,

blooms itself, and releases thousands of spores in order to infect more insects. It's brutal to

watch. But getting back to The Last of Us, while the concept of

a fungus like that, being able to turn humans into mindless zombies might still seem far-fetched,

there is already mounting concern within the scientific community that actually studies these things,

that mutating strains of fungi are rapidly evolving in a response

to a warmer climate to the point where they're actually beginning to present a real threat

to human health.

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