You then think that's only possible in the SF stories. But one director found his inspiration in nature. When he determined that a specific fungus could take over an ant's tiny brain. He let his imagination run wild and made a film of a fungus that could take over the human brain. As a result, people lost their total personality and ended up becoming numb zombies.
All right, this is not possible for a person.
But it does happen with tropical ants.
The fungus, microbiologists found, belongs to the Cordyceps species.
It attaches itself to the (poor) animal and penetrates its exoskeleton.

Manipulation
Subsequently, the fungus spreads through the ant's body and affects her tiny brains. Without realizing that, the ant obeys the order that the fungus hands over to her.
Surely you wonder how such a fungus, where you don't discover any visible brain neurons, knows that it can do this?

Zombie phase
Once the ant has been entrapped by the fungus and has taken over her brain, she leaves her familiar nest, where she stayed so safely among the other ants.
She then climbs, on her own, to a high clearing, enjoying the sun. Because this is also what the fungus has dedicated her to. This can be on a tree or on a plant. She then clings firmly to it. This was her last act. She is then no longer on duty and the fungus starts its digestion process.

When the time is right, the fruit body of the fungus emerges from the ant's body.
It is a mushroom-like structure. From which the fungal spores eventually spread.
These float on the forest floor, carried by the wind.
An unsuspecting ant who then sees such a spore as a tasty bite, runs the risk of becoming the next zombie ant.

Cordyceps fungus
This is the best-known fungus that causes this process. But in the meantime, a microbiologist has noticed that it is a completely new type of fungus that has never been encountered before. According to further scientific research, it has been noticed that this fungus can also hack the brain of other insects.

Microbiologist Dr. De Bekker looked into which genes and proteins of the ant and the fungus play a role in this phenomenon.
She studies how the proteins that the fungus produces cause the ant's behavior to change.

For example, together with her colleagues, she discovered that there is another fungus that manages to outdo the fungus that causes the zombie phenomenon.
As a result, the fungus that turns the ant into a zombie itself suffers from a. fungal infection.
They noticed it in the other form of expression of the fungus.
De fungal infection veroorzaakt geen kleine paddenstoelen maar stervormige uitsteeksels vol met witte puntjes.
De microbiologe noemt de schimmel die het zombieverschijnsel veroorzaakt een parasiet en de schimmel die de zombie-veroorzakende schimmel overheerst met een fungal infection een hyperparasiet.

This hyperparasite was named Niveomyces coronatus. Indeed, the Latin word Niveo means snowy. Her mold looks like snowy icicles.

These two fungi were unknown to science.
According to the biologists, they were created by the changing climate.
As a result, fungal diseases are becoming an increasing problem.

What do the fungi do?
They adapt to the warming Earth. Which brings their optimal growth temperature closer to our body temperature. Which, of course, is better not the case.

The scientists are investigating which proteins these previously unknown fungi use to attack the ant manipulator.
Het zou kunnen leiden tot nieuwe geneesmiddelen tegen fungal infections.

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