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The Science of Zombies: Zombie Apocalypse?

Accompanying LibGuide for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Library's Science of Zombies Exhibit.

Mourning Fore Native

Fore native

A mourning Fore native covered in ashes. The photograph was taken in Okapa in 1957 by D. Carleton Gajdusek while investigating the kuru epidemic that ravaged the Papeau New Guinea tribe. Retrieved from PubMed Central.

The Future?

Zombie banner

Zombie Apocalypse?

Zombie exhibit

Exhibit Sources

Ackermann, H.W., Gauthier, J. (1991). The ways and nature of the zombi. The Journal of American Folklore, 104 (414), 466-494. 

Aguzzi, A., & Heikenwalder, M. (2006). Pathogenesis of prion diseases: current status and future outlook. Nature Reviews Microbiology(10), 765-775.

American Scientist Interviews: Wade Davis on zombies, folk poisons, and Haitian cultureAmerican Scientist,  75 (4), 412-417.

Barash, D.P. (2012, October, 6). Who's in charge inside your head? The New York Times

Booth, W. (1988). Voodoo Science. Science, 240 (4850), 274-277.

Corbet, B. (1990) [Review of the book Passage of darkness: the ethonobioloy of the haitian zombie]. Bob Corbets Home Page

Davis, W. (1985). The serpent and the rainbow. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Davis, W. (1988). Passage of darkness: The ethnobiology of the Haitian zombie. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Fuks, J.M., Arrighi, R.B.G., Weidner, J.M., Mendu, S., Jin, Z., Wallin, R.P.A....Barragan, A. (2013). GABAergic signaling is linked to a hypermigratory pehnotype in dendritic cells infected by Toxoplasma gondii. PLOS Pathog. 8 (12).

Gajdusek, D. C. (2008). Early images of kuru and the people of Okapa.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences363 (1510), 3636.

Gajdusek, D. C. (2008). Kuru and its contribution to medicinePhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences363 (1510), 3697-3700.

Gal, R., Rosenberg, L. A. and Libersat, F. (2005). Parasitoid wasp uses a venom cocktail injected into the brain to manipulate the behavior and metabolism of its cockroach preyArchives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, 60, 198–208. 

Hahn, P.D. (2007) Dead man walking: Wade Davis and the secret of zombie poison. Biology Online

Harmon, K. (2012). Zombie creatures: what happens when animals are possessed by a parasitic puppet master?. Scientific American

Liberski, P. P. (2009). Kuru and D. Carleton Gajdusek: a close encounterFolia Neuropathol47, 114-137.

Littlewood, R., Douyon, C. (1997). Clinical findings in three cases of zombification. Lancet, 350, 1094-1096. 

Mathews, J. D. (2008). The changing face of kuru: a personal perspective.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences363 (1510), 3679-3684.

McAuliffe, K. (2012). How your cat is making you crazyAtlantic309, 36-44.

Milius, S. (2013). Little mind benders: Parasites that sneak into the brain may alter your behavior and healthScience News183 (2), 24-28.

Reid, L. M. H. (2008). Memories of kuru while at Okapa, Papua New Guinea in 1957Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences363 (1510), 3657-3659.

Stitz, L., & Aguzzi, A. (2011). Aerosols: An underestimated vehicle for transmission of prion diseases?Prion(3), 138-141.

Yan, J. (2013). Psychiatrist hunts for evidence of infection theory of schizophrenia. Psychiatric News, 48 (3), 17. 

Zimmer, C. (2006). The wisdom of parasites. Discover Magazine

Zimmer, C. (2011). How a zombie virus became a big biotech business. Discover Magazine

Zimmer, C. (2012). Your guide to zombie parasite journalism. Discover Magazine

Zimmer, C. (2012, December, 5). How to control an army of zombies. The New York Times

Zivkovic, B. (2011). Revenge of the zombifying wasp. Scientific American

Additional Resources Available Through USC Libraries

Prion Transport

Prion illustration

Illustration of prions being transported in human tissues. Ingested prions are absorbed in the intestines and transported through the blood and lymphoid fluids, replicated in the spleen, appendix, and tonsils, and delivered to the brain via peripheral nerves, where they can conceivably cross the blood-brain barrier. Retrieved from Nature Reviews Microbiology (Ref 137). Used with permission.

Magnified Photomicrograph

Magnified photomicrograph of cortical neuron loss

Magnified photomicrograph of cortical neuron loss caused by variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a prion disease first described in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s and possibly related to another prion disease recently seen in cows known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or "mad cow" disease. Both prion-based diseases are fatal with extremely long incubation periods often lasting years. Retrieved from the Public Health Image Library (PHIL).