Question: Will zombie ants be further investigated in the future?

Octavia Brayley answered on 16 Nov 2023:

Thanks for your great question! Yes, I’m sure there is a lot more to learn about the parasitic fungus. I’ve just had a look at recent scientific papers about the fungus, and there are lots that have come out this year! One is looking at how the fungus and its compounds can be used for medicine.

Highlights from the paper:
●The genus Cordyceps is well known for producing numerous bioactive compounds with emerging medicinal potentials.
●Using integrated omics and systems biology technologies, Cordyceps can scale up as a cell factory for the production of natural compounds.
●Advances in genome-editing systems have unlocked a wider range of industrial uses for Cordyceps.

Here’s some of the health benefits linked to Cordyceps:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cordyceps-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_3

Here’s another video about the fungus and the zombie ants:

And if you’re interested in parasites, here’s a video about some of the creepiest: