Episode 3 - Part 2 - The Last of Us - The Interview

Based on a True Horror Story

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In the second of our special two-part episode, we take a deep dive into the world of fungi with mycologist and Teaching Professor Emerita from the University of Calgary, Heather Addy.
What is a fungus?
What is the Cordyceps fungus?
Could the Cordyceps fungus ever evolve to infect humans?
Are there any fungi that are dangerous to humans?
Is there anything that humans can do?
We look at these questions and many others as we look at one of the largest, and most overlooked, organisms on the planet.
Additional Information from Professor Addy:
- The number of fungal species vs plant and animal species: There are an estimated ~ 300 000 species of plants and likely around 7.7 million species of animals (mostly insects!). So, more animals than fungi, likely (although we don't know number of fungal species for sure), but more fungi than plants.
- Fungal pathogens of other animals, specifically white-nose syndrome and the chytrid fungus that is decimating frogs and other amphibians around the world, I mentioned that individual frogs can be treated by transferring them to warmer temperatures for a time (which eliminates the fungal infection from their bodies), which is true. The same treatment would not work for bats infected with white-nose syndrome fungus. The probiotic treatment is promising for protecting bats, this involves spraying the wings of bats with a mixture of bacteria that naturally occur on their wings and that slow the growth of the fungus. There is also a research group working on a vaccine.
References and Sources
A huge thank you to Professor Addy for the taking the time to talk to us and help us to learn more about this fascinating topic!

• https://youtu.be/jM5jf-8ekVA - Could the Cordyceps fungus really take over?
• https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/the-last-of-us-apocalypse-is-not-realistic-but-rising-threat-of-fungal-pathogens-is/ - Yale School of Medicine, “The Last of Us” Apocalypse is Not Realistic, But Rising Threat of Fungal Pathogens Is
  February 6th, 2023
  Isabella Backman
• https://educationnewscanada.com/article/education/level/university/1/1005668/ucalgary-biologist-says-fungus-presents-no-last-of-us-style-threat-to-humanity.html - Calgary biologist says fungus presents no Last of Us-style threat to humanity
  University of Calgary
  February 17th, 2023
  Brennan Black
  Interview with Professor Heather Addy
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8 - BBC Planet Earth - Ant infected with Cordyceps fungus
• The Last of Us. Created by Neil Druckman and Craig Mazin, performances by Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, HBO, 2013.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuInX_lsI8g - Leaf Cutter Ants - Shadow of the Sun - BBC Earth
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xKeJyvnuWs - CBC Docs - The Evolutionary Story of How Fungi Shaped All Terestrial Life - Including Us
• https://www.ecovative.com/ - Ecovative pioneered the art and science of growing complete mat