Zombies are really popular these days.\u00a0 The story goes that some virus transmissible by the bite of an infected person could transform us into an ugly, bleeding, aggressive, cannibalistic, slow walking\/limping, strong,\u00a0 sleepless shell of a human who is somewhat resistant to gun shot wounds and generally hard to kill.<\/p>\n\t
The background here is that I studied microbiology in college, and while I’m not a virologist, I do have some knowledge of the subject matter.<\/p>\n\t
So let’s take the “symptoms” of zombification one at a time:<\/p>\n\t
Ugly:<\/strong> Can a pathogen make you ugly?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Leprosy, The Plague…any general Necrosis.\u00a0 It is possible for a pathogen to transform appearance over time.\u00a0 Even the flu makes us look rougher than usual.\u00a0 I will draw a line though:\u00a0 If you look as bad as zombies generally do on TV, you’re about dead and bedridden….not likely chasing people around trying to eat them.<\/p>\n\t Bleeding<\/strong>:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Pathogens can leave us with open sores.\u00a0 No objections here.\u00a0 Though we will come back to this one…because bleeding along with some of the other symptoms are not likely to go together.<\/p>\n\t Aggressive<\/strong>:\u00a0 Not likely, though possible.\u00a0 When we get sick with a pathogen we are generally listless and tired, not aggressive.\u00a0 If we are bleeding and parts of our body are dying, then we are not aggressive…we are bedridden.<\/p>\n\t Cannibalistic<\/strong>:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 I do not know of any infection that makes us want to eat other people.\u00a0 Rabies (which is active on the brain\/nervous system) is not transmitted person to person.\u00a0 Also, rabies kills us.\u00a0 It does not reanimate us into zombies.<\/p>\n\t Slow walking\/limping<\/strong>:\u00a0 Not likely.\u00a0 Any pathogen that works on the nervous system, as the zombie pathogen would have to, could cause difficulty with motor skills.\u00a0 Parkinson’s disease (though genetic and not caused by a pathogen) is an example.\u00a0 However, I know of no pathogen that would cause a limp and then stop progressing without treatment. \u00a0 The fake zombie pathogen would be smarter if it left motor skills fully intact; easier to hunt down people and eat them (like vampires).\u00a0 Infections generally progress; if it progressed to a limp then presumably it would later progress to completely shutting down the nervous system.<\/p>\n\t Strong<\/strong>:\u00a0 I think generally on TV zombies seem to possess some kind of extra strength, though I’m not sure.\u00a0 If so, then this is not possible in real life.\u00a0 Infections don’t make us stronger; they make us weaker.\u00a0 Also, extra strength and a limp do not go together.\u00a0 If our nervous system is impaired and we are generally bleeding…we are unlikely to have extra strength.\u00a0 This one is simply not feasible.\u00a0 Zombies, if they existed, would be weak as shit.<\/p>\n\t Sleepless<\/strong>:\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 Pathogens cause sleeplessness.\u00a0 Also, I’m not sure whether zombies sleep or not.\u00a0 It is not clear from watching TV if they need sleep (or food).<\/p>\n\t Shell of a human<\/strong>:\u00a0 Yes, sort of.\u00a0 Alzheimer’s disease can basically erase a person, so this is possible…however, Alzheimer’s takes years, not minutes like the potential zombie pathogen. \u00a0Bear in mind Alzheimer’s patients are pretty weak as well, not bleeding, extra-strong cannibals as zombies are.<\/p>\n\t Somewhat resistant to gun shot wounds and generally hard to kill<\/strong>: Uh….no.\u00a0 If we are sick we are not generally hard to kill.\u00a0 The young and healthy are as close as we get to “generally hard to kill”.\u00a0 The immunocompromised are not resistant to gun shot wounds.<\/p>\n\t Let me make a few other points:<\/p>\n\t Incubation period<\/strong>:\u00a0 It seems the zombie pathogen comes on quick, which is possible.\u00a0 However, the moment of transition is often shown as being within seconds.\u00a0 The veins go blue; the eyes glass over…almost instantaneously.\u00a0 That is not likely.<\/p>\n\t Undead<\/strong>:\u00a0 This is flatly impossible.\u00a0 I am assuming the zombie pathogen is infecting us while we are alive.\u00a0 There is nothing that kills us and then brings us back from the dead.\u00a0 That is not the way pathogens work.\u00a0 If there were to be a zombie virus, it would have to work on us while alive.\u00a0 Re-animation is not possible.<\/p>\n\t If there were a zombie virus, where would it come from?<\/strong> The aggression and super-human strength, which are not really attributes of pathogens, suggests if there were such a thing it would come from military research gone wrong, not nature.\u00a0 (As an aside, some TV shows\/movies have suggested the zombie virus comes from longevity research.\u00a0 I don’t think so.\u00a0 There is already a set of cells that are immortal: cancer cells.\u00a0 I would think a runaway longevity virus would cause cancer, which would kill us, not turn us into zombies).<\/p>\n\t Are zombie’s biologically possible<\/strong>?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 The combination of symptoms is not possible. \u00a0The body is designed to work best when it is healthy; any deviation from that will make the body less effective. \u00a0It is the extra strength, ability to take bullets,\u00a0aggression, tirelessness, etc. that I take issue with. \u00a0The zombie virus seems to me like it would simply kills us.\u00a0 If you describe a bleeding, physically altered, limping shell of a human…I say that person is on their death bed.\u00a0 They will not rise up and chase after us.<\/p>\n\t Food for thought folks!\u00a0 Sleep safer knowing the zombies are not coming!\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Zombies are really popular these days.\u00a0 The story goes that some virus transmissible by the bite of an infected person could transform us into an ugly, bleeding, aggressive, cannibalistic, slow walking\/limping, strong,\u00a0 sleepless shell of a human who is somewhat resistant to gun shot wounds and generally hard to kill. The background here is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3IMYj-8F","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=118","url_meta":{"origin":537,"position":0},"title":"Tesla – The Great Radio Controversy","author":"kellio","date":"December 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I usually don't remember much before High School.\u00a0 I have a notoriously bad memory for stuff unless something specific triggers it....such as music. 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