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Zombie Ant Fungus
By Sheilamarie Nellis
Do you remember the horror flick from the 50’s “The Blob” and its 70’s remake “Beware! The Blob”? How about “The Night of the Living Dead”? Life sometimes mimics our worst nightmares, especially if we are an ant! There’s been a buzz in the news recently about a fungus in the rain forest that invades the brain of an ant and programs that ant to prepare the location where the fungus can flourish. Once infected, the ant alters its usual pattern of life and starts to chew at leaves at just the height and in just the right place that is beneficial to the fungus. Once the exact location beneficial to the fungus is prepared, the ant dies and the fungus spores are released where they can grow and propagate and then infect new ants, continuing the cycle. Whole colonies of ants have been wiped out in this way. However, this cycle has been going on long enough that the carpenter ants have adapted their behavior in response to the fungus. When one of their own shows symptoms of being a fungus host, another ant will transport the sick ant away from the colony so that the whole colony does not become infected, too. This fungus, it is believed, does not infect humans. It is being studied, however, for its pharmaceutical possibilities. There is some evidence that the fungus may have some anti-malarial benefits. Other medical uses have also been investigated. Although this fungus is not new to the rain forest, nor to the carpenter ants that live there, its presence and the sophisticated way it has adapted to its environment is evidence of how amazing nature is and of how much exists in the rapidly disappearing rain forest of which we are ignorant. The rain forest is home to more species than scientists can even count. Yet the rain forest is being cut down to feed people’s greed and voracious appetites at an alarming rate. We may discover, after the rain forests are gone, that many solutions to our own diseases and some of the other problems we face have been destroyed as well. Can we afford to let this happen?
Sheilamarie grew up in Boston and rode the Swan Boats with her grandmother.
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 | | oxytum liked this intel. Mar 9, 2011 | | | snowhat liked this intel. Mar 9, 2011 |  | | adac liked this intel. Mar 9, 2011 |  | | nick respected this intel. Mar 10, 2011 |  | | frederick recommended this intel. Mar 10, 2011 |  | | Coffee with Jeff appreciated this intel. Mar 10, 2011 | | | liked this intel. Mar 13, 2011 |
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No way!  That has GOT to be from the The Onion.
 | | nick Mar 10, 2011 02:22 |  appreciated |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Ha ha! I just checked out The Onion and had a good laugh!
Actually, I thought I had posted a link on that intel. It came from (drum roll here. . .) Scientific American, among other places.
Thank you for sharing this interesting intel, Sheila.
We can either pay attention to Mother Nature, or she will be making us Pay. The internet has opened our eyes to mamy things, that weren't openly known, 40 years ago. Hopefully, this awakening will help.
Keep up the good work.
Best wishes.
Frederick
The copyright for this content entitled "Zombie Ant Fungus" has been specified by the contributor as:
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If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL:
http://sheilamarie.qondio.com/
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