The incredible fungus that killed the world in The Last of Us is quickly becoming a popular health supplement — but the science is still out on some claims. Once a foraging ant eats an Ophiocordyceps spore, it only has days to live. That’s how long it takes to develop inside the creature’s body and send burrowing mycelia, a network of fine fungal filaments, into the insect’s organs. The ant, as if possessed, climbs about 10 inches up the nearest plant and dies, allowing the mushroom that blooms from its corpse to rain down more spores on unsuspecting hosts. This so-called zombie fungus, found worldwide, is a well-known nightmare — it even made it onto an episode of the BBC’s Planet Earth. So it has unsurprisingly populated human fantasies as well: Smash hit video game The Last of Us, which premiered in 2013, featured the same fungus, but it mutated to infect humans, turning most of humanity into an echolocating undead army. In real life, though, the masses might take Ophiocordyceps sinensis (formerly known as Cordyceps sinensis) willingly and eagerly. In fact, according to research published last year in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology: Ophiocordyceps sinensis mushrooms are the most expensive in the world, commanding $140,000 per pound for high-quality specimens. | 