For some reason the whole zombie meme seems to be very popular these days. But how realistic is it to think that a virus, bacteria or parasite could significantly alter the behavior of its host? It turns out it is very likely, and may even be a common occurrence in many host animals. Here's some of the more interesting ones I've run across over the last couple years.

Zombies IRL

Sticklebacks infected with a parasite that changes their behavior so that the parasite can finish its life cycle.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/17/tapeworm-stickleback-parasite-heat/*

A fungus that infects ants forces them to walk to a specific part of a leaf and bite down at a specific time of day as their last act.

http://www.livescience.com/14064-zombie-ant-fungus-parasite.html

A really odd one: A parasite that makes the sexual attraction portion of a rats brain light up (as opposed to the flight or fight response)when it encounters a cat.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/august/catrat-081711.html

A parasitic wasp reprograms a spider's brain to build a cocoon that it will die in instead of a web.
http://si-pddr.si.edu/jspui/bitstream/10088/1507/1/William_Eberhard.pdf

You had to know this was coming . . .
(Is your name really Bud Abbott? Or is it Dan Rowan? =)

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Actually . . . It was a parasite that made me do it.

so question, just curious. So is all these drugs that changes peoples moods and the way they act something like what we are talking about? If so there is a lot of zombies already out there! paxel, viagra, etc dont know all thee drugs out their, also what about illegal drugs it makes people do some crazy things that they cant control while on them

The drugs don't do it out of a need to survive, nor do they reproduce. So it's a little different.

Another zombie-making organism may be responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/parasite-bees-zombies-010512.html

I have my zombie decal on my jeep so I'm ready

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xOJtp6z-L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

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Speaking of "Colony Collapse" . . .
Archeologists just revealed that they found the remains of a cell phone tower on Roanoke Island.