In Italy, scientists discovered a very interesting type of parasite in the depths of a cave. This parasite settles in the brain of spiders and seizes their control. So, this situation, which looks like a zombie film scenario, can lead to a real zombie apocalypse in the hands of malicious people who want to develop biological weapons in the future?

In memory of legendary natural historian Sir David Attenborough, this newly defined species, called Gibellula Attenboroughii, is part of a rare mushroom group that manipulates the behavior of the hosts in frighteningly sensitive ways. The mind -changing parasitic mushroom was first seen in 2021 during the shooting of the BBC’s Winterwatch series. Later, researchers at the International Center of Agriculture and Biological Sciences (cabi) at the Danish Natural History Museum and the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens confirmed the discovery. They published a study in Fungal Systems and Evolution.

This study revealed that G. Attenboroughii infected the sphere of spherical cave and European cave spiders, captured their bodies and changed their natural instincts. Normally, the infected spiders, which were retreated to the seclusion and stored in the depths of the caves, then abandoned their nets and began to move towards the open areas.

First ants, spiders now, tomorrow …

This behavior is very similar to the malicious zombie ant phenomenon seen in tropical rainforests, exposed to another mushroom parasites that seize the bodies of ants and spread to other ants.

Now, the question in everyone’s mind is: we all know that they will not leave such a mushroom alone in nature. When will scientists start working on this parasite mushroom to develop biological weapons and turn people into zombies? As you know, this scenario was exactly in the story of the famous video game “Last of Us” and the TV series …