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rose_catQuoted from an article by Amina Khan in the Saturday, 9/10/2011 edition of the Los Angeles Times. Just so you know, it's pretty disgusting, and possibly nightmare-inducing.
Scientists have isolated a viral gene that induces zombie-like behavior -- in caterpillars. The virus causes gypsy moth caterpillars to climb to the tops of trees, where they die and their disintegrating bodies rain infectious particles on their unsuspecting brethren below.
[...]
"You end up with this sack of virus that opens up," said...Kelli Hoover, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University. "It melts and it's gooey and you get [a trillion] of them raining down and spreading down on the leaves. It's a very efficient virus."
Excuse me, I have to go and write a Torchwood, or maybe X-Files, fanfic now.
Scientists have isolated a viral gene that induces zombie-like behavior -- in caterpillars. The virus causes gypsy moth caterpillars to climb to the tops of trees, where they die and their disintegrating bodies rain infectious particles on their unsuspecting brethren below.
"You end up with this sack of virus that opens up," said...Kelli Hoover, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University. "It melts and it's gooey and you get [a trillion] of them raining down and spreading down on the leaves. It's a very efficient virus."
Excuse me, I have to go and write a Torchwood, or maybe X-Files, fanfic now.
