Running Head:
ZOMBIES: MODERN DAY MONSTERS
Zombies: Modern Day Monsters
Lee Wood
Spokane Community College: Eng. 201
Monsters have been around for quite a
while. From the beginning of time, man has
told stories intended to scare other people for one reason or another, and
monsters have always proved effective.
The invention of the motion picture allowed the “horror movie” to take
the world by storm, making famous certain monsters such as King Kong and the
Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Recently, however, modern movie-goers seem to need something a little
more believable to produce the required feelings of terror that keep them
coming back for more. To compensate for
this paradigm shift, yesterday’s horror movie has evolved into today’s
“psychological thriller”. Today’s movies
must have more realistic plots to bring in the fans. Gone are the days of Godzilla; nobody believes
that a giant T-rex will ever attack a city. So what kind of monster can you use to
terrify a society that doesn’t believe in monsters? What if you can disguise the monsters as…
human?
The zombie
seems to be today’s monster of choice.
Zombies are not pre-historic giants or radioactive sea creatures, but
humans like you and I. How these humans
became zombies depends upon the plot they are involved in, but the good stories
have to be at least somewhat based in fact.
The 2007 film I am Legend is one example. In the film, scientists successfully modify
the smallpox virus to target and kill cancer cells. While the world celebrates a cure for cancer,
however, the unthinkable happens. The
virus mutates, and with devastating results.
Patients begin to get sick.
Elevated temperature and heart rate are followed by over aggressive
behavior. Hair loss and sensitivity to
the sun follow, as mental capacity quickly degrades. The virus continues to mutate and becomes
contagious and airborne, spreading with the speed and fury that smallpox is
known and feared for. Quickly, the
search for a cure begins, but no scientist has ever seen anything like it. This virus is not a product of nature, but of
man, and all attempts to stop it are unsuccessful. The film opens 3 years after the outbreak, and
Dr. Robert Neville, possibly the last man on earth, is introduced. Dr. Neville continues to search for a cure by
day, while evading the zombies by night.
This movie was successful not because of the zombie, but because of its
appeal to reality. It made you leave the
movie theater wondering, “Could this really happen?” Theoretically, the answer is yes. Recent advances in science and medicine prove
that such a prediction may not be that far from reality.
Mayo Clinic
researchers are doing just that, experimenting with viruses to target and kill
cancer cells. Recent work has been done
with the measles virus, retargeting it to recognize cancer cell receptors,
allowing selective killing. In this way,
retargeted cancer-killing viruses help the body, rather than harming it as
natural viruses do when they infect cells (Mayo Clinic, 2005). Just retargeting the virus isn’t enough
though. Most people receive a
vaccination for measles as children, which means that the body quickly
recognizes the virus, and kills it before it can reach the cancer. To overcome this obstacle, scientists are
using tree and animal viruses to change the protein coat around the measles
virus, so that it cannot be recognized by the human immune system. This would allow the virus to reach the
cancer successfully, but would spell disaster if something were to go
wrong. There are multiple safeguards in
effect for this very purpose. Other
research is being done with viruses such as HIV, a virus the human immune
system already has a hard time fighting off.
UCLA researchers have already had success in using HIV based viruses to
target prostate and melanoma cancers in mice, without infecting the rodents
with AIDS (Tomkins, 2005). Only the
future will tell the effectiveness of this research; clinical trials started in
March of 2007.
The
technology that makes research like this possible is called Recombinant DNA
Technology. Recombinant DNA Technology
represents limitless possibilities in the field of Genomics. With the successful mapping of the human
genome, as well as the genomes of several other model organisms, recombinant
DNA technology may soon play a major part in all aspects of science and
medicine. Scientists can now synthesize
a strand of DNA for a specific gene, and then implant that DNA into
bacteria. First, the DNA is placed in a
“plasmid”. The bacterium then absorbs
the “naked” DNA in a process called transformation. Once the bacterium has absorbed the DNA, it
will be replicated as the bacterium undergoes binary fission. This process has resulted in DNA libraries,
housing thousands of bacteria and respective DNA strands. Scientists are now working on ways to
introduce this new DNA into living cells, and program those cells to express
the gene product. This was first successful
in plants, such as “golden rice” which was modified to produce beta carotene,
which will help fight vitamin A deficiency in third world countries. There have also been recent successes in
bacteria and animals, such as E. Coli that produces
human insulin, or goats that produce spider silk in their milk. The hope is that in the future, this process
will allow us to repair or replace defective human genes.
Scientists
have also made discoveries in recent years allowing them to understand the exact
mechanisms by which viruses infect their host cells. This has allowed researchers to begin do
design their own gene delivery devices (National Science Foundation,
2004). It is technology like this that
makes it possible for scientists to “retarget” viruses. Viruses are equipped with certain receptors
that recognize and lock onto specific proteins on cell surfaces. These viruses are called phages. Phages specifically target and destroy or
alter cells. A “lytic”
phage binds to a cell, and injects its own DNA.
Inside the cell, the DNA is replicated and used to create more
phages. Up to 200 offspring can result
from one phage. When these new phages
are complete, they break out of the cell, destroying it in the process (Thiel, 2004).
Scientists can now manipulate these receptors to make the virus target
whatever cell they choose. This is how
researchers at UCLA can use the same virus to target either prostate or
melanoma cancer cells.
Technology
is a wonderful thing, and is allowing us to explore avenues that have only been
dreamed of in the past. Along with these
discoveries, however, comes much that we don’t understand. It is the question of “what if?” that gives
the zombie it’s power. If we can
engineer a virus that is unlike anything found in nature, and completely
invisible to our immune system, isn’t there potential for an epidemic of epic
proportions? Theoretically, yes. Realistically, probably
not. Scientists have many
safeguards in place to protect from any such supervirus,
and their methods must go through rigorous approval procedures before they can
ever begin human trials. The real
potential for danger, however, lies with those who may want to engineer a supervirus on purpose.
Biological warfare has been feared for years as a potential threat, and
with all of this new scientific knowledge readily available to the public, that
threat is becoming more and more legitimate.
In 2002, scientists created a live polio virus from common chemicals and
publically available genetic information.
The genome sequence of polio is available on the internet, and genetic
material is available from many companies that sell made-to-order DNA. Researchers fear that in the near future, as
little as two skilled workers in a rogue lab could synthesize a virus as
complicated as ebola (Pollack, 2002). The purpose behind this project was to prove
to the government and the world that bioterrorism is a new reality, and must be
taken into consideration. When interviewed,
the scientists commented that the process is relatively simple, and easy to do,
and that the world had better be prepared (Whitehouse, 2002).
As our
knowledge of genetics advances, the possibilities are becoming limitless. Recent discoveries have proven that we can
create our own viruses, change their DNA to do whatever we want to, and change
their structure to target whatever cells we choose. This kind of information in the wrong hands
creates a realistic potential for human zombification. Let’s consider two possibilities. There are already naturally existing viruses
and bacteria that have neurological effects on humans. The rabies virus, for example, has much the
same effect on humans as it does on animals.
Symptoms include increased temperature and heart rate, as well as
irritability and increased aggressive behavior.
Foaming at the mouth is followed by hallucination and dementia, which
precedes coma and death. Human to human
infection is not common, but the most effective way would be through biting, as
the virus resides in the saliva. Genetic
modification of this virus that allowed it to keep the host conscious, rather
than resulting in a coma, would be a big step in creating a real life
zombie. Further engineering allowing the
virus to be transmitted easily from host to host would be all we need to bring
the I am Legend story to life.
One other possibility is with a bacterium called toxoplasma
gandii.
Bacterial infection was the basis for the plot of the original book I
am Legend by Richard Matheson. In
his book, the contagious bacterial infection spread so rapidly in the body that
it would keep it’s host alive even after its heart had
stopped beating. T. gandii,
while nowhere near as powerful as the bacteria in Matheson’s novel, has a very
interesting lifecycle. It lives in the
intestinal tract of cats, which is the only environment where it can survive
and sexually reproduce. When the
bacterium is expelled with the cat’s waste, it then infects any warm blooded
organism that it comes into contact with it.
When transmitted to rats, for example, it seems to develop a mind of its
own, and formulates a plan to return to the cat where it can survive. The bacteria essentially hijack the rat’s
brain function, and eliminate its fear of cats.
Infected rats, rather than avoiding cats for survival, become attracted
to them, ultimately leading to their death and returning the bacteria to an
environment where they can survive.
Interestingly enough, rats are noth the only
animals that seem to be effected by the bacteria. Many humans come into contact with cat feces,
and contract a condition called Toxoplasmosis.
Presence of the bacterial parasite in humans has recently been linked to
certain neurological disorders such as schizophrenia and bi-polarity (Petty,
2006). Who knows what could be done if
T. gandii’s DNA was modified with the purpose of
affecting the human brain. The thought
of a parasite that could remove our fears and inhibitions, and make us act
contrary to our instincts for the purpose of its own survival is a pretty scary
one.
So how real
is this threat? Should we expect a
zombie epidemic in the next few years?
Realistically, probably not, but science is continuing to prove to the
world every day that anything is possible.
At this very moment, revolutionary discoveries are being made with DNA
that will soon change the world. But
there is always a dark side to knowledge.
The same technology that may soon allow us to choose the gender, and
even physical attributes of our children before they are born will also allow
scientists to change the genetic makeup of already living individuals. It may be that we are fast approaching the
day when terrorist facilities previously used to weaponize
uranium are turned in to labs used to synthesize viruses. Yes, we may cure cancer, but will we create
something worse? Only time will tell.
References
Goldsman, A. (Producer), & Lawrence, F.
(Director).
(2007). I am Legend [Motion Picture].
United States: Warner
Brothers.
Matheson, R. (1954). I am legend. New York, New York: TOR Books.
Mayo Clinic. (2005, August 11). Mayo Clinic collaboration invents 'virus in stealth' to help kill cancer cells. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 21, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/ 050811091013.htm
National Science Foundation. (2004, August 23). Viruses on the attack: Revealing visuals show details of a common mechanism for infection. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 21, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2004/08/040823092800.htm
Petty, R. G. (2006, Aug 20). [Weblog] Toxoplasmosis, behavior and mental illness. Retrieved May 5, 2008, from http://richardgpettymd.blogs.com/my_weblog/2006/08/toxoplasmosis_b.html
Pollack, A.
(2002, July 12). Traces of terror: The science; scientists create a live polio
virus. The New York Times,
Technology
Thiel,
Karl. (2004).Old dogma, new tricks - 21st Century phage
therapy. Nature Biotechnology. 22,
31-36.
Tomkins, J. (2005, April 20). Biotechnology: Can a virus kill cancer?. Popular Science. Retrieved June 2, 2008, from http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2005-04/biotechnologycan-virus-kill-cancer
Whitehouse, D. (2002, July 11). First synthetic virus created. BBC News. Retrieved May 30, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2122619.stm