Could Scientists Really Create a Zombie Apocalypse Virus? - Polidicks

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;28275201]Something tells me you know nothing about virology. Firstly, virii never engage in metabolism, ergo, they do not need any form of provision gathering, or any form of strengthening, considering a virus is not a cell, hence their different names. Secondly, you do realize it's hard as fuck to engineer a virus for biological warfare, right? It's not like with E.Coli were you can insert a few plasmids and controlling enzymes, and you got the world's biological multitool. It take years, decades, to get a virus just right to be infectious enough to be unable to be quarantined, and yet prevalent enough to cause actual damage. If you really want something of the Rage virus from "28 Days Later", it won't be a virus, considering most, if not all virii are too large to pass through the blood-brain barrier.[/QUOTE] uh... Viruses are magnitudes smaller than bacteria, all they are is an RNA chain with a protective protein coating, they'll pass through the blood brain barrier much easier than any form of bacteria, you know considering most bacteria actually have a substantial body to them relative to viruses and not much smaller than eukaryotic cells.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28274822]No some of my friends live there. Lets find an empty island out in the ocean somewhere and use deathrow inmates as test subjects.[/QUOTE] [img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4608952/gday.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Zet;28274814]Australia would make an excellent test group. It's surrounded by lots of water and the zombies can't go anywhere.[/QUOTE] yeah but australia is cool, get america instead

Cool, but would they actualy attack people or just sit there like a zombie.

[QUOTE=MasterG;28294770] It's entirely possible that their reduced brain function could remove the inhibitors we sub-consciously put on things like hitting; it's physically impossible to put too much energy into a punch because your brain inhibits it slightly so you don't damage your muscles with the quick contraction/extension. Whilst a zombie could be more durable with this removed, they'd also damage themselves a lot quicker.[/QUOTE] They wouldn't really be more durable. They'd simply not stop when they get hurt; think of it like flinch resistance. What do characters with flinch resistance do to others? They fuck them up or die. As for a country to test on, I vote India. Fucking telemarketers. It'll be twice as satisfying to club them to death. On a semi-related note, I remember reading or hearing somewhere years and years ago about a zombie theory; that they're merely ordinary people who have been subjected to maddening torture (water torture?) that leaves them temporarily in a state of half-functionality and vulnerability to suggestion. Seems just as unlikely as most other possible scenarios though.

[QUOTE=ChristopherB;28273479]I'm not an expert on the film, but I believe the virus in 28 days later didn't lobotomize people, it just caused damage to some emotional center of the brain so the people were in a constant state of rage. This caused them to be so aggressive towards others that they would attack without remorse and they ignored the pain. So the people were almost as intelligent as they were before their infection...they are just really, really angry.[/QUOTE] Yes it was a "Rage virus" in the films, and by the plot it all came from a few, contaminated, ill monkeys that the animal activists tried to free, but got bitten in the process. The theory in the films is not too far-fetched I think. Uncontrollable rage in a form of a virus. Take out the virus and you'd still end up having dead bodies, but that's just plain normal violent behavior then.

This has given me an idea for a short film, although I don't want it clichéd.

It can be about some shady umbrella corporation making a bioweapon that attacks the human nervous system. Wait..

I've talked about this before, but a virus that creates zombies in the traditional shambling messes of reanimation is highly unlikely. More realistic is something like the RAGE virus in 28 days later, where they are in fact not zombies, rather infected humans in a state of extreme aggression. RAGE was cleverly written/thought up by Boyle because it was essentially a modified rabies virus. As we move more and more into the age of genetic engineering, this is a very real possibility, and the message within the film was lost on the masses I feel.

[QUOTE=The mouse;28275136]Why would we want to make this?[/QUOTE] Scientists are doing it for the lulz.

There already is a parasitic fungi that infects ants and controls their mind. It makes them act normal by day, but at night they sneak out of the colony and then the fungi will grow and release spores, which can turn an entire ant colony into more "zombie ants". There is also some kind of worm that infects an insect. It will grow inside them until it reaches it's near adult state. It will then make the insect jump into the water, making it drown. The worm swims away safely. With some bioengineering these could infect humans.

[QUOTE=joost1120;28304017] With some bioengineering these could infect humans.[/QUOTE] You would need a shitton of bioengineering. Hell, we can't even make mechanical mind control, forget about biological.

bring it fucking on!

[QUOTE=ThatHippyMan;28272563]Ha, I'm watching Dead Men Walking right now.[/QUOTE] I'm watching Shaun of the Dead.

Zombies make good movies, whether they're plausible or not.

I'm oiling the rifles and buying a couple thousand rounds of ammo

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Zombies ARE possible i guess. But i don't think there's gonna be any such kind of "omg huge outbreak omg HEHEHEHEHEH LETS NUKE A HUGE CITY HEHEHEHEHEHEH". Even if there will be zombies i think the situation will be dealt with in no time.

With a lack of a sense of self preservation, the "zombies" would soon die in the cold of winter. 28-Days-Later style or otherwise.

True Zombies are impossible durrrrr

How Optimistic. Unleash it on Madagascar, they'll shut the border as soon as someone sneezes anyway so it's fine.

[QUOTE=turkeysandvich;28310529]the situation will be dealt with in no time.[/QUOTE] Thats what they all say.

[QUOTE=johan_sm;28304229]You would need a shitton of bioengineering. Hell, we can't even make mechanical mind control, forget about biological.[/QUOTE] We don't have to do it from scratch. We just need to make their spores "invisible" to our immune system, and once we're past that, we probably have over half the things done. Also, we have the science to do it, and knowing is half the battle!

[QUOTE=GFreeman515;28320756]Thats what they all say.[/QUOTE] Yeah, and then the zombies get off-screen teleporting powers and everyone who's ever owned a gun or weapon in their life becomes a complete retard.

But in highly populated cities if such rage-type of virus were to breach out, it could be pretty devastating, but not surely the end