PROBLEM

We know that the cordyceps fungus can infect and control the actions of carpenter ants, leading to their death, but could this also happen to humans?

HYPOTHESIS

   Given how humans are bigger in size, having a more advance immune system, and a higher body temperature than ants, it’s highly unlikely that cordyceps can control humans.                

Research was conducted from multiple sources to understand how cordyceps fungus can kill ants, but doesn't harm humans.

RESEARCH

What is a cordyceps? Where do they grow?

Cordyceps is a fungus that like all fungi release spores to reproduce and colonize areas around them. They do it through these two phases: infecting a carpenter ant and hijacking its body. Cordyceps are usually found in areas that are wet, enough sunlight, and are filled with dead plants or dead trees such as rainforests in Brazil. There, just about 25cm high, hanging on a leaf, you can see a dead carpenter ant with a strange fungus growing out of the back of its head. This is an infected ant that has lost control of its body to the parasite fungus called Ophiocordyceps. The lifecycle of a cordyceps fungus is simple. It first starts with a sticky fungus on the rainforest floor. The fungi release spores to reproduce itself, called a cordyceps spore. That spore then lands on a carpenter ant that is foraging food for its nest. The fungus begins to grow in the ant. Days pass and the entire ant’s body is controlled by cordyceps. Then the cordyceps fungus compels the carpenter ant to climb a nearby plant and bite down on a leaf. As the carpenter ant dies, a fruity body grows out of the head or neck and releases more spores of its own to infect more ants. Cordyceps can wipe out an entire ant colony but luckily, overtime ants have advanced to react to an infected ant by taking them far away from the nest so that other ants won’t become infected, keeping their colony safe. There are other types of species of Ophiocordyceps that can infected other arthropods.

Why do Cordyceps control the body of an ant? How?

Like all fungi, Ophiocordyceps only have one purpose: reproduction and survival, and zombifying carpenter ants gives Ophiocordyceps a higher advantage in life. How the fungus controls the body of a carpenter ant is through a very gruesome process. It first starts as a single cell spore piercing the carpenter ant’s exoskeleton and then the spore begins to multiply. Soon the multiple fungi cells start to connect forming tubes that start draining the carpenter ant’s body of its nutrients. Then the fungi cells create a network of roots in the body of the carpenter ant and begin to breach the muscle cells and control them. Almost every part of the carpenter ant’s body is now controlled by cordyceps, but even though Ophiocordyceps grow through its hosts entire body, it leaves the brain of the carpenter ant untouched. Instead, it releases gases into the ant’s brain that changes its entire behaviour. Cordyceps don’t move at will by controlling the brain of the ant, but by controlling the ant’s muscles and nervous system. Even though ants are in danger by this fungus, it some how doesn’t harm humans.

How are humans protected? Why?

            If we weren’t immune to cordyceps fungus, then most of the human population would become a mindless horde of fungus zombies. If you want to know what our world would look like with zombie human fungus, then check out the game, The Last of Us. Now I’m going to tell you how humans are immune to Ophiocordyceps. It takes cordyceps a long time to grow in the ant, and due to our size, it would take cordyceps more than a year, giving us plenty of time to seduce the disease. In addition, our body temperature, which is 98 degrees Fahrenheit, is too hot for Ophiocordyceps, so it wouldn’t survive if it tried to grow in us. Also, our immune system is far more complex than an ant’s immune system. And there you have it, three things that make us unharmed by cordyceps, you’d be surprised to know that cordyceps give us health benefits.

What are the medicinal benefits?

Despite the damage to ants, Ophiocordyceps can be used as medicinal benefits to us. Cordyceps have anti-inflammatory properties. It contains something called cordycepin, which helps reduce inflammation in people with asthma, and arthritis. Cordyceps are also used in cancer immunotherapy, this means it can boost the immune system. Cordyceps fungus’ fruiting body can be ground down and used in a tea bag. The tea can be used for sickness because it can help your immune system fight of the virus.

There was no data collected, only research.

OBSERVATIONS

After researching cordyceps and their effects on ants and humans, we can conclude that humans are safe from the dangerous cordyceps fungus. Humans have a more advanced immune system, higher temperatures, and larger size, which protects us.

REFERENCES

“Are Zombie Ants Real? | Ophiocordyceps Fungus | Orkin.” Www.orkin.com, www.orkin.com/ask-orkin/zombie-ant-fungus.

“Cordyceps Is a Killer Fungi with Potential Health Benefits.” Cleveland Clinic, 9 Mar. 2023, health.clevelandclinic.org/cordyceps-benefits.

Lu, Jennifer. “How a Parasitic Fungus Turns Ants into “Zombies.”” Animals, 18 Apr. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/cordyceps-zombie-fungus-takes-over-ants#:~:text=Meanwhile%2C%20the%20fungus%20feeds%20on. Accessed 15 Mar. 2024.

Petruzzello, Melissa. “Zombie-Ant Fungus | Description, Infection, Life Cycle, Humans, & Facts | Britannica.” Www.britannica.com, 7 Mar. 2023, www.britannica.com/science/zombie-ant-fungus.

Stone, Mac. “How a Zombie-Ant Fungus Can Infect a Host.” Discover Magazine, 19 Jan. 2023, www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/how-a-zombie-ant-fungus-can-infect-a-host.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

            I would like to thank my mom and dad for helping me to make my research what it is now. A big thank you to my science teacher, Mr. Cassidy for inspiring me to research my interests.