George Dvorsky
Sentient Developments
Posted: Dec 18, 2010
Much to my surprise, I’ve become a bit of a zombie junkie.
I’m a big fan of the Walking Dead television show and zombie films in general (I could watch Shaun of the Dead endlessly). I’ve been intrigued and spooked by the genre’s post-apocalypic visions of a humanity overrun by a mysterious virus that brings the dead back to life—only to stalk the living.
While it doesn’t necessarily speak to the kind of speculative fiction that I normally enjoy, it does offer some food for thought as far a the science is concerned. And it got me thinking: Could such a thing ever happen? Moreover, given the potential power of future technologies, could a ‘zombie virus’ be deliberately engineered? The more I thought about this, the more I became convinced that such a thing might actually be possible.
Solanum virus
According to zombie canon, it’s a virus called Solanum that is responsible for converting the living to the undead. According to the Zombie Survival Guide, the virus works by traveling through the bloodstream from the original point of entry to the brain where it uses the cells of the frontal lobe for replication, destroying them in the process. During this period, all bodily functions cease and the infected subject is eventually pronounced “dead.” The brain remains alive but dormant while the virus mutates its cells into a completely new organ.
Once the mutation is complete, this new organ reanimates the body—but typically to a form that bears little resemblance to the original corpse. Some bodily functions remain constant, others operate in a modified capacity, and the remainder shut down completely.
But it doesn’t stop there. The reanimated corpse develops an insatiable appetite for human flesh, the brain in particular. It is through the relentless stalking and attacking of the living that zombies attempt to satiate their appetites, while spreading the virus to their surviving attack victims.
Solanum is 100% communicable and 100% fatal. While the virus is neither waterborne nor airborne, infection can only occur through direct fluidic contact. A zombie bite is the most common vector for transferring the virus, but it’s not the only one. Humans can be infected by brushing their open wounds against those of a zombie or being splattered by its remains after an explosion.
As for the zombies, there is no cure. Nor can their relentless thirst for the living be quenched. They are single-purpose automatons, stalking the living until their bodies have completely rotted away, or their brains destroyed.
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