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Scientists Create Zombie Cockroaches
Reservoir Hill writes "Zombie insects might sound like a B-movie plot device (quicktime video) but to the emerald cockroach wasp (Ampulex compressa), they're a tried and tested way to provide food for their hungry larvae. The wasp relies on cockroaches for its grisly life cycle but unlike many venomous predators, which paralyze their victims before eating them, the wasp's sting leaves the cockroach able to walk, but unable to initiate its own movement. Researchers have discovered that the wasps sting the cockroaches once to subdue them, then administer another, more precise sting right into their victim's brain. The venom works to block a neurotransmitter called octopamine with a similar action to dopamine, which is involved in preparations to execute complex behaviors such as walking. Then the wasp grabs the cockroach's antenna and leads it back to the nest 'like a dog on a leash', says one researcher. The team found that they could restore spontaneous walking behavior in stung cockroaches by giving them a compound that reactivates octopamine receptors in the insects' central nervous system. Researchers were also able to create their own zombies by injecting unstung cockroaches with a compound that blocks the receptors producing a similar effect to that of the venom."
I can't believe I remembered this.
Almost, it should be: "Emerald Cockroach Wasps Create Zombie Cockroaches, Scientists Imitate".
From the blurb above:
Researchers were also able to create their own zombies by injecting unstung cockroaches with a compound
My Karma: ran over your Dogma
StrawberryFrog
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/04/1649211
I wish they'd just google for the old title... that would catch most of these dupes.
For more insect related awesomeness the BBC made Life in the Undergrowth a documentary series presented by David Attenborough. There's some really incredible stuff in there. Wasps especially seem to have evolved lots of these rather sinister behaviours.
Loose the italics next time. I know it is hard to resist, but explaining a joke just makes it !funny.
The cancel button is your friend. Do not hesitate to use it.
They got the story just a wee bit wrong, your scientist friends did. Yes, the main ingredient for "zombification" is a venom - pufferfish venom or some other analogous neurotoxin) for the paralysis bit and clinical depression as an added bonus, but the traditional cocktails which have been studied also contain a lysergine and some THC to complete "operation mindfuck", plus additional bits of stuff that inhibit the autonomous nervous system and slow down metabolic processes - sometimes in non-obvious ways. This is something that's been in development since the stone age began. If some obscure herb is in there, it's in there for a reason.
Btw, if you ever meet a zombie, make her a nice cup of St John's wort tea.
Something bad is coming when people are suddenly anxious to tell the truth.