s own, but can reach maturity faster in a dead body. So, when controlling a living human, O. unilateralis uses that person to its advantage by driving them to help speed up reproduction through the provision of corpses. If the host fails to make a kill, but manages to penetrate the skin of a healthy human, then the fungus still benefits because that person will become another Infected.
Overall, the concept of The Last of Us is scientifically plausible, given enough time for O. unilateralis or a different species of Ophiocordyceps fungus to evolve the traits explored here. The intelligence and thought put into this game has given it so much more than most other video games can offer. These things make it different from your standard zombie apocalypse. It is scary because it feels like it could really happen, and this realness comes from its grounding in actual science. The infection seen in it is already a reality for many insects and other arthropods. They may not show the aggressiveness displayed by the Infected, but the behavioral manipulation seen in these animals is extremely effective at fulfilling the fungus’s needs. Maybe at some point in the future, the fictional scenario of The Last of Us could come to be. Who knows? The natural world is continually revealing so many things previously thought impossible.
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