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