Are zombies a possibility?

Beacause of this new wave of zombie mania, some are wondering if they will eventually exist? I believe that it will soon be possible, as cell regeneration technology. Introducing a new protein that will mutate the cell is already happening today. What do YOU think?

What zombie mania do You mean? Like in games/tv? Other than Our govt. doing their evil experiments what would be the reason for the existance of zombies? Ughh, even zombies in movies creep Me out. I don't think I see it happening. I'm pretty sure everybody would be completely opposed to the idea of genetically mutating humans. There are some of Us that wouldn't need much manipulating to be a mutant.

Peace. K*

As in a situation similar to 28 days later... Highly possible. Just imagine the chemical weapons that are being desinged out there today, we have no idea. A virus, a genetically manipulated super-rabies, its possible.

In terms of Night of the living dead, not so much. That would involve reanimated dead, but you know I have no idea with whats possible in higher technology. I can almost bet the government's tried to do it already trying to create new weapons. Damn them sneaky guys.

If a intelligent virus exists that can take over a dead body and reanimate it, I would kinda like to see it happen in a weird way, a zombie happening would be a damn interesting event to live or die through.

I always wanted to board up my house and face the undead. That is, if they are the slow type, not the running type that won't die with a head shot (ie return of the living dead) cuz that would suck beyond all imagination...



[edit on 12-5-2007 by squidboy]

It'd be very simple to have a "Dawn of the Dead" sort of zombie.

It really depends on nature though. For instance, rabies already exists. What if rabies were to mutate into a form that allows for humans to act in the way you'd see in "28 Days Later"? It's a possibility. I wouldn't be too worried about it though.

there was a movie about that by Chronenberg (wrong spelling)
rabies gone bad.

Rabid.

I always loved the movie Scanners

Zombies have existed for centuries. I'm not talking about "Dawn of the Dead" zombies, but "The Serpent and the Rainbow" zombies.

Real zombification involves a potion that slows down the heart rate to a point where the victim appears to be dead. When the victim is "brought back" he remains in a zombie-like state where he is usually kept as a slave.

Can you find proof of this? I looked but just basically found the movie. And other little stuff. Would this be in the field of Eugenics? Partly at least? If anyone finds any links about this and other strange medical experiments post them here or on the thread I started below.

Fascinating. I would like to remind everyone, that we are not talking about "voodoo" zombies. We are discussing the likelihood people who have regenerated cells. Or the possibilty of a strain of mutated rabies.

And if scientists could find such a virus, how would it be used. We must prepare!

Well I found something but I don't know if it is leget or not.

www.fvza.org...

This has already been discuss: www.abovetopsecret.com...'

The idea of a mutated or engineered rabies virus being able to induce such changes in any organism is simply silly. The amount of genetic material that would need to be changed and/or introduced is far too large for a viral or any other vector, cosmid, plasmid, etc.

Sorry, but this remains science fiction =/. The necessary methods and techniques just do not exist.

I don't don't know if they could engineer a rabies virus or alter it. But I'm not a scientist. If they can clone sheep and splice genes among other things in the medical field. Then why would this be different? Just to say with these people if there's a will there's a way. As long as eugenics is studies and researched to no end, this is not merely science fiction.

Originally posted by Leyla
I don't don't know if they could engineer a rabies virus or alter it. But I'm not a scientist. If they can clone sheep and splice genes among other things in the medical field. Then why would this be different? Just to say with these people if there's a will there's a way. As long as eugenics is studies and researched to no end, this is not merely science fiction.

Well, I *am* a scientist, and I'm telling you, there is a BIG difference between cloning an animal and creating a totally new one.

This is not an example of eugenics. Eugenics is selectively breeding traits that already exist within a population. What you are referring to is introducing a massive amount of genetic material into an organism and assuming it will work. In order to introduce this material, you would have to have a vector, such as a virus, plasmid, or cosmid. At most, these can handle a few genes. We are talking about hundreds of genes here, responsible for musculature, neural activity, cognition, perception, etc.

If you can find a way to introduce basically an entire chromosomes worth of genetic material into an organism and at the same time force the organisms system to recognize and regulate a new source of DNA that did not naturally evolve with the host, I believe there is a Nobel Prize and a nice sum of money waiting for you.

[edit on 5/12/2007 by bsl4doc]

[edit on 5/12/2007 by bsl4doc]

Well, technically anyone who has been clinically dead, and resuscitated with paddles is a zombie.

Biologically it would be incredibly difficult to do, however, with the right technology and implants,
you could make a corpse move around.

Originally posted by iori_komei
Well, technically anyone who has been clinically dead, and resuscitated with paddles is a zombie.

No, someone who is "clinically dead", which usually is only the period up to 10 minutes after somatic death (after which they are just 'dead'), who is brought back with defibrilators is not a "zombie". A zombie in the sense of this thread implies someone similar to those zombies seen in horror films.

Biologically it would be incredibly difficult to do, however, with the right technology and implants,
you could make a corpse move around.

No, you couldn't. The muscles of a human corpse will quickly decay, typically putrifying and liquifying within a week or two. Prior to that, the small muscle groups are already detaching. This cannot be reversed without an adequate supply of blood and nutrients. If you suggest using technology to do just this, then you are reviving the person, not making a zombie.

Originally posted by bsl4doc
No, someone who is "clinically dead", which usually is only the period up to 10 minutes after somatic death (after which they are just 'dead'), who is brought back with defibrillator's is not a "zombie". A zombie in the sense of this thread implies someone similar to those zombies seen in horror films.

Well I was sort of being tongue in cheek, and I was just using the basic definition,
being died than being revived back to life.

No, you couldn't. The muscles of a human corpse will quickly decay, typically putrifying and liquifying within a week or two. Prior to that, the small muscle groups are already detaching. This cannot be reversed without an adequate supply of blood and nutrients. If you suggest using technology to do just this, then you are reviving the person, not making a zombie.

Well I meant by putting the corpse in an automata suit with clothes over the mechanisms,
which would make the corpse look like it was moving around.

Originally posted by Nostradamouse
We must prepare!

It would be nice if we could "prepare" for every possible eventuality but it's simply not possible. As it stands, I have an umbrella around in case it rains. I have a big, warm winter parka for when the whether turns cold. I have a supply sunscreen for protection against UV rays and I carry a cane/walking stick for personal defense when walking around in "uncertain areas".

We have enough clear and present concerns and, even then, it's difficult to prepare for every eventuality. But Zombies? This is one area that I can feel reasonably secure in delaying my preparedness. Frankly, I'm still trying to gear up for vampire attacks so I had to put Zombie readiness on the "back burner".

As some have said, it really depends on what type of 'Zombie' you're theorizing.

Most mutations are lethal.

To have a virus change personality and/or take over a body as in the 28 Days Later movie or to have reanimation of the dead, as in a Romero zombie both seem pretty unlikely. It's too specific a change - human-like, but with dire motives and anti-social behavior, and still able to goal-seek (brains!).

Could you have a mutation that occurs creating a new 'species' of human, such as is theorized by some wrt Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals? That's a tough one. It might have seemed to the C-Ms that the Neanderthals were like 'zombies', i.e. sub-human and terrifying; to the Cro-Mags, they were anti-social and brutal.

We already have a split in society, though. It's what some call the 'wolves' or predator types and the enculturated types, or what some call 'sheep'.

You and I are basically non-predators. Hard core criminals and socio-pathic types are the 'wolves'. If society breaks down then it probably will seem to us that the predators are 'zombies' and we are the hapless population trying to escape.

So, it depends...

Originally posted by iori_komei
Well I meant by putting the corpse in an automata suit with clothes over the mechanisms,
which would make the corpse look like it was moving around.

You could do the same with a live racoon, but it does not make it anything but a racoon in a suit...

They've re-animated dogs. But they arent your mindless flesh-eating zombie dogs Still kind of creepy

zombie dogs

The method for making the trip is simple. The Safar Center team took the dogs, swiftly flushed their bodies of blood and replaced it with a relatively cool saline solution (approximately 45 to 50 degrees) laced with oxygen and glucose. The dogs quickly went into cardiac arrest, and with no demonstrable heartbeat or brain activity, clinically died.

There the dogs remained in what Patrick Kochanek, the director of the Safar Center, and his colleagues prefer to call a state of suspended animation. After three full hours, the team reversed their steps, withdrawing the saline solution, reintroducing the blood and thereby warming the dogs back to life. In a flourish worthy of Mary Shelley, they jump-started their patients' hearts with a gentle electric shock. While a small minority of the dogs suffered permanent damage, most did not, awakening in full command of their faculties.

[edit on 5/13/07 by spanishcaravan]

[edit on 5/13/07 by spanishcaravan]

Possible? Absolutely.
Has it happened already? Possibly.

In order to re-animate the dead, we would need something to re-connect the nerve pathways in the brain, and kick start the heart.
Bringing something back into a state of re-animation doesn't require a soul, just energy to make everything work.
Having said that, how could we do that?
A virus.
Some of the movies were dead on about that.
Anything that could infect the corpse, re-connect nueral pathways, and provide the kick start needed, even if acting as a parasite to the host, should at least in theory, work.
Like a poster above said, they HAVE re-animated dogs, so humans are a huge possibility... and maybe that have done so already behind closed doors.

Now, in order to get said virus into countless corpses, how would we do that?
Injection is out of the question.
Airborne would make no sense.
So how then?
Infect rats. It's simple enough. Rats carry diseases already, and can pass those on. Rats feed on dead animals, amongst other things.
What sometimes lives on rats, and other wild animals?
Ticks.
They can also carry diseases.. ie- Lyme Disease.
So, the virus get's spread from rat to tick, and from both, to corpse, as rats feed on dead animals/etc, and ticks can infect other animals, and people, starting a huge outbreak in rural areas, and spread to cities quickly.