Neurogenesis

As seen in ...Laboratories around the world.

What is it?
You know all that controversy out there about stem cell research? Well, the whole thing
with stem cells is that they can basically be used to regenerate dead cells. Particularly
of interest is neurogenesis, the method by which they can regrow dead brain tissue.
How it can result in zombies:
Science can pretty much save you from anything but brain death; they can swap out
organs but when the brain turns to mush, you're gone. Well, not for long. They're already
able to re-grow the brains of comatose head trauma patients until they wake up and
walk around again. Couple that with the new ability to keep a dead body in a state of
suspended animation so that it can be brought back to life later, and soon we'll be able
to bring back the dead, as long as we get to them quickly enough.
A lab dedicated to "reanimation research" explains how the process of "reanimating" a
person creates a problem. It causes the brain to die off from the outside in. The outside
being the cortex, the nice part of you that makes humans human. That just leaves the
part that controls basic motor function and primitive instincts behind. You don't need
the cortex to survive; all you need is the stem and you'll still be able to mindlessly walk
and eat. This is how chickens can keep walking around after they've been beheaded
(including one case where the chicken lived for 18 months without a head).
So, you take a brain dead patient, use these techniques to re-grow the brain stem, and
you now have a mindless body shambling around, no thoughts and no personality,
nothing but a cloud of base instincts and impulses.
Think about it. Under every legal system in the world, all rights and responsibilities are
terminated at death. All it takes is someone with resources and a need for a mindless
workforce of totally obedient slave labor.
How long until somebody tries this? We're betting somebody in the world, maybe North
Korea, will have a “working zombie” by Christmas.
The Real Rage Virus
As seen in...
28 Days Later
What is it?
In the movie, it was a virus that turned human beings into mindless killing machines. In
real life, we have a series of brain disorders that do the same thing. They were never
contagious, of course. Then, Mad Cow Disease came along. It attacks the cow's spinal
cord and brain, turning it into a stumbling, mindless attack cow.
And, when humans eat meat...
How it can result in zombies:
When Mad Cow gets into humans, they call it Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Check out the
symptoms:
Changes in gait (walking)
Hallucinations
Lack of coordination (for example, stumbling and falling)
Muscle twitching
Myoclonic jerks or seizures
Rapidly developing delirium or dementia
Sure, the disease is rare (though maybe not as rare as we think) and the afflicted aren't
known to chase after people in murderous mobs. Yet. But, it proves widespread brain
infections of the Rage variety are just a matter of waiting for the right disease to come
along.
If the whole sudden, mindless violence idea seems far-fetched, remember that you are
just one brain chemical (serotonin) away from turning into a mindless killing machine
(they've tested it by putting rats in Death match-style cages and watching them turn on
each other). All it would take is a disease that destroys the brain's ability to absorb that
one chemical and suddenly it's a real-world 28 Days Later.
So, imagine such an evolved disease, which we'll call Super Mad Cow (or, Madder Cow)
getting a foothold through the food supply. Say this disease spreads through
blood-on-blood contact, or saliva-on-blood contact. Now you have a Rage-type virus
that can be transmitted with a bite.
Neurotoxins
As seen in...
The movie The Serpent and the Rainbow, the Resident Evil 5 video game.
What are they?
There are certain kinds of poisons that slow your bodily functions to the point that
you'll be considered dead, even to a doctor. The poison from fugu (Japanese blowfish)
can do this.
The victims can then be brought back under the effects of a drug like datura
stramonium (or other chemicals called alkaloids) that leave them in a trance-like state
with no memory, but still able to perform simple tasks like eating, sleeping, moaning
and shambling around with their arms outstretched.
How it can result in zombies:
"Can?" How about "does."
This stuff has happened in Haiti; that's where the word "zombie" comes from. There are
books about it, the most famous ones by Dr. Wade Davis (Passage of Darkness and The
Serpent and the Rainbow). Yes, the movie The Serpent and the Rainbow was based on
this guy's actual science stuff.
Then there’s the true story of Clairvius Narcisse. He was a Haitian guy who was declared
dead by two doctors and buried in 1962. They found him wandering around the village
18 years later. It turned out the local voodoo priests had been using naturally occurring
chemicals to basically zombify people and putting them to work on the sugar
plantations.
If some evil genius intentionally distributed alkaloid toxins to a population to turn them
into a shambling, mindless horde, there is no way to make these zombies aggressive or
cannibalistic.
Yet.
Brain Parasites
As seen in...
Resident Evil IV
What are they?
Parasites that turn victims into mindless, zombie-like slaves are fairly common in
nature. There's one called toxoplasmosis gondii that seems to devote its entire
existence to being terrifying.
This bug infects rats, but can only breed inside the intestines of a cat. The parasite
knows it needs to get the rat inside the cat so the parasite takes over the rat's brain,
and intentionally makes it scurry toward where the cats hang out. The rat is being
programmed to get itself eaten, and it doesn't even know.
How it can result in zombies:
Half the human population on Earth is infected with toxoplasmosis, and doesn’t know
it. They've done studies and shown that the infected see a change in their personality
and have a higher chance of going insane.
Humans and rats aren't all that different; that’s why they use them to test our drugs. All
it takes is a more evolved version of toxoplasmosis, one that could do to us what it
does to the rats. So, imagine if half the world suddenly had no instinct for
self-preservation or rational thought. Even less than they do now. If you're comforting
yourself with the thought that it may take forever for such a parasite to evolve, you're
forgetting about all the biological weapons programs around the world, intentionally
weaponizing such bugs. You've got to wonder if the lab workers don't carry out their
work under the unwitting command of the toxoplasmosis gondii already in their brains.
You may be protesting that technically these people have never been dead and thus
don't fit the dictionary definition of "zombies," but we can assure you that the
distinction won't matter a whole lot once these groaning hordes are clawing their way
through your windows.
Nanobots
As seen in...
Michael Crichton's novel Prey, The PS2 game Nano Breaker
What are they?
Nanobots are a technology that science apparently engineered to make you terrified of
the future. We're talking about microscopic, self-replicating robots that can invisibly
build--or destroy--anything. Vast sums of money are being poured into nanotechnology.
Sure, at some level scientists know nanobots will destroy mankind. They just can't resist
seeing how it happens.
How it can result in zombies:
Scientists have already created a nano-cyborg, by fusing a tiny silicone chip to a virus.
The first thing they found out is these cyborgs can still operate for up to a month after
the death of the host. Notice how nano scientists went right for zombification, even at
this early stage. They know where the horror is. According to studies, within a decade
they'll have nanobots that can crawl inside your brain and set up neural connections to
replace damaged ones. That's right; the nanobots will be able to rewire your thoughts.
What could possibly go wrong? Do the math, people.
Someday there will be nanobots in your brain. Those nanobots will be programmed to
keep functioning after you die. They can form their own neural pathways, meaning they
can use your brain to keep operating your limbs after you've deceased and, presumably,
right up until you rot to pieces in mid-stride.
The nanobots will be programmed to self-replicate, and the death of the host will mean
the end of the nanobots. To preserve themselves, they'd need to transfer to a new host.
Therefore, the last act of the nanobot’ zombie would be to bite a hole in a healthy
victim, letting the nanobots steam in and set up camp in the new host. Once in, they can
shut down the part of the brain that resists (the cortex) and leave the brain stem intact.
They will have added a new member to the unholy army of the undead.