Creating the Zombie Virus 04-06-2017, 10:49 PM
#1
First I'd like to say I'm not virologist, nor have any background with any of the sort. I was simply bored and watching random youtube shit when a theory hit me.
Some say the "zombie" apocalypse is possible through a virus or bacteria, which it can be, but currently there is no strain of virus, bacteria or parasite which can do such a thing. However, there are separate organisms, which if properly combined, could easily create one.
Toxoplasma Gondii. A parasite which infects more than %40 of the human population on the planet. Most people have never even heard of this parasite, however chances are you have it, especially if you own out door cats. Toxoplasma is a parasite which begins in the brain of a rat. It essentially rewires the rats brain to seek out cat urine, where it will then be devoured by the cat. The cat will poop out the parasite, and the infection chain starts over again.
How does it do this? Toxoplasma contains a gene which creates dopamine, the chemical responsible for the "feel good" It essentially gives the rat massive amounts of dopamine as it seeks out the cat urine, making it less afraid of its natural enemy.
It's been documented in humans that the Toxoplasma parasite triggers a human's dopamine levels when in danger, so instead of panicking, the infected person feels at bliss and happy. This parasite has been theorized to be the reason why "dare devils" and "adrenaline seekers" exist. It's not really adrenaline they're getting, but rather massive amounts of dopamine created by a parasite.
Now what about Rabies? Rabies is a virus which swells the brain of the infected animal, produces massive amounts of infectious saliva, makes it impossible to swallow, and enrages the infected. Rabies infected animals don't typically bite unless provoked, however they will occasionally just go mad and bite whatever. That's what we need to change.
If you were to take the gene from Toxoplasma responsible for dopamine creation, and inject it into the rabies virus, you could in theory come out with a virus that essentially rewards the infected person/animal for biting (or spreading the virus) However the chances of that naturally occurring are very rare, so we would need to further engineer the virus with other genetic codes to ensure this happens.
Now what about longevity? A virus/bacteria/parasite's only worry is to infect something else. To produce offspring. To prolong its existence. Rabies isn't really the best virus when it comes to this. Most of the time, the infected animal will die due to the brain swelling/inability to eat or drink, before the virus can even spread. That's something else we'd have to configure.
We would need to remove any genes responsible for brain swelling. This would increase longevity greatly, but would decrease the enragement caused by it, therefore the infected would no longer be as angry, or confused, meaning less likely to bite. However, as stated before, we wouldn't need that at all. Our gene from Toxoplasma is creating dopamine for the infected user whenever they attack or bite something. They're miserable, tired and sick, however whenever they bite something, they get a rush of dopamine and feel amazing, so why wouldn't they continue to bite and attack?
As I said, it's just a theory, and probably a bad one at that, but I'd like to hear other's opinions on the matter, and if anyone else would like to help theoretically create a zombie virus. As I said, I don't have any background in any of this stuff other than basic science bullshit I learned in school (which unfortunately I didn't really pay attention too anyway) and was just bored and thought this up real quick.
Some say the "zombie" apocalypse is possible through a virus or bacteria, which it can be, but currently there is no strain of virus, bacteria or parasite which can do such a thing. However, there are separate organisms, which if properly combined, could easily create one.
Toxoplasma Gondii. A parasite which infects more than %40 of the human population on the planet. Most people have never even heard of this parasite, however chances are you have it, especially if you own out door cats. Toxoplasma is a parasite which begins in the brain of a rat. It essentially rewires the rats brain to seek out cat urine, where it will then be devoured by the cat. The cat will poop out the parasite, and the infection chain starts over again.
How does it do this? Toxoplasma contains a gene which creates dopamine, the chemical responsible for the "feel good" It essentially gives the rat massive amounts of dopamine as it seeks out the cat urine, making it less afraid of its natural enemy.
It's been documented in humans that the Toxoplasma parasite triggers a human's dopamine levels when in danger, so instead of panicking, the infected person feels at bliss and happy. This parasite has been theorized to be the reason why "dare devils" and "adrenaline seekers" exist. It's not really adrenaline they're getting, but rather massive amounts of dopamine created by a parasite.
Now what about Rabies? Rabies is a virus which swells the brain of the infected animal, produces massive amounts of infectious saliva, makes it impossible to swallow, and enrages the infected. Rabies infected animals don't typically bite unless provoked, however they will occasionally just go mad and bite whatever. That's what we need to change.
If you were to take the gene from Toxoplasma responsible for dopamine creation, and inject it into the rabies virus, you could in theory come out with a virus that essentially rewards the infected person/animal for biting (or spreading the virus) However the chances of that naturally occurring are very rare, so we would need to further engineer the virus with other genetic codes to ensure this happens.
Now what about longevity? A virus/bacteria/parasite's only worry is to infect something else. To produce offspring. To prolong its existence. Rabies isn't really the best virus when it comes to this. Most of the time, the infected animal will die due to the brain swelling/inability to eat or drink, before the virus can even spread. That's something else we'd have to configure.
We would need to remove any genes responsible for brain swelling. This would increase longevity greatly, but would decrease the enragement caused by it, therefore the infected would no longer be as angry, or confused, meaning less likely to bite. However, as stated before, we wouldn't need that at all. Our gene from Toxoplasma is creating dopamine for the infected user whenever they attack or bite something. They're miserable, tired and sick, however whenever they bite something, they get a rush of dopamine and feel amazing, so why wouldn't they continue to bite and attack?
As I said, it's just a theory, and probably a bad one at that, but I'd like to hear other's opinions on the matter, and if anyone else would like to help theoretically create a zombie virus. As I said, I don't have any background in any of this stuff other than basic science bullshit I learned in school (which unfortunately I didn't really pay attention too anyway) and was just bored and thought this up real quick.
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