A Zombie War Is Raging In The Deep Sea

As we prepare for the likely Zombie apocalypse, signs begin to emerge that it's a more widespread issue than previously imagined. Deep sea bacteria have been found infected, feeding tirelessly on the sweet, sweet sulfur that spews from vents on the ocean floor. Though they normally feed on them as a means of survival, a virus is causing them to mindlessly  accelerate their feeding.

A virus — likely the Zombie virus we're all fearing — is causing the bacteria to both chomp on sulfur, and burn through their energy reserves at an accelerated pace. They're simply sulfur feeding monsters, bent on consuming as much as they can due to the viral reprogramming. If that's not scary enough, it gets worse. Much worse.

The bacteria expell excess energy in their mad scramble to get more sulfites, which the virus they're hosting use to multiply and grow. Eventually, the bacteria burst, spewing the dangerous zombie virus all over. Oddly enough, scientists believe the virus is using the bacteria's own genetic code to infect it, and that the two lifeforms may have exchanged genes during the course of history.

Though frightening, it's also an important discovery for science. Virus and bacteria have a symbiotic relationship when photosynthesis is involved, but this zombification is the first the connection is being noticed so deep underwater. The virus is probably trying to assume energy needs not present without sunlight helping, but we'll just consider it the first signs of the Zombie virus in nature.

Source: Science

Via: ABC