What Happens When Zombies Bite You

Well the short answer to this question is – you turn into a fuckin zombie!

However, I’m sure you already knew that. So let’s get into a little bit of the biology behind what might happen. Notice that I said might. This is all hypothetical.

A zombie is always hungry and its favorite food is usually human flesh. Although when in large numbers zombies would devour humans almost totally, leaving only skulls and a couple of bones, a solitary zombie might attack a human only in order to eat a couple pounds of flesh. 

Whether or not zombies do exist, one cannot simply discard or set aside the concept of a zombie bite and its after-effects. There is actually a lot of science and logic in such idea of an organism propagating and multiplying by attacking others and eventually, transforming them just like it. Despite many movies and written work about zombies, biological science does have a way of explaining how zombification comes to be.

AKA – there is some science to this.

One good scientific explanation for zombies coming to be is fungal infection. I’m not talking about those fungal infections you get on your toes either.  In the case of a zombie parasite, it isn’t a far-fetched idea that fungi spores can be transmitted to another organism through a bite, hence zombie attacks.

The injected spores inside the bitten victim burrow deep and slowly devour its host from the inside. Again this is not fiction as many types of insects and worms have demonstrated the ability to do this, injecting larvae into bitten prey then hatch from inside. As the spores devour the victim, parts of it decay and deteriorate. The original bite mark becomes infected, gangrene sets in. Hence, you have the falling-off look that most zombies have.

As its body continues to decline, the victim requires more nourishment. By then, the spores originally injected from the zombie bite have matured. As mentioned earlier, fungal spores now go after the neural network and induce chemical signals into the brain. Human thought process is rendered inutile, leaving only the five senses. The zombifying spores do leave out motor functions of the nerves and brain, resulting in a mindless organism able to move about and go through obstacles like climbing trees and walls.

As the spores take control totally of the host, they take root in the digestive tract and lie semi-dormant. Part of the digestive system are the mouth and teeth, where spores stand ready to be transmitted. As the victim hunts and preys on other humans, attracted by the distinct smell dictated by the fungi, a bite allows the spores to transfer to another host. This is how the zombie contagion spreads out, which is nothing more than a natural means of fungal reproduction.  

So as far fetched as the idea of a zombie apocalypse may seem, there are some basic scientific principles at work here that make sense.  Let me know what you think about fungi/spores/zombies and anything else you want below.

 

 

   

 

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