Threat from The Last of Us may become reality

Global warming will make fungi more dangerous to humanity, microbiologists from Duke University have warned, published the journal PNAS.

Pathogenic fungi are most dangerous to immunocompromised people. For most people, they do not pose a threat because they do not tolerate human body heat. However, according to scientists, global warming may correct this.

Scientists have documented that elevated temperatures cause a pathogenic fungus known as Cryptococcus deneoformans to start mutating. Some of the changes may lead to increased heat resistance, while others may lead to increased pathogenic potential.

This news may pique the interest of viewers of the new HBO series The Last of Us, in which the cordyceps fungus adapted to the heat and was able to infect people, making them zombies. This is what we reported in our paper, with the exception of zombies. Fungal diseases are on the rise because of the increasing number of people with weakened immune systems or co-morbidities. Temperature will only accelerate this trend, the scientists concluded.

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