Quote:
Originally Posted by Solitaire1
It is generally thought that a zombie is a living human who has caught a virus that converts them into a zombie. However, what if the reverse is true?
It is the virus that is the actual zombie, and it kills the living human. Then it takes over the corpse to provide it with a means to survive and travel since it can't survive in the open air...
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Your analysis highlights many of the issues in the on-going debate over whether the infectious agent that leads to a Zombie-state is viral. Viruses take over cell processes of a living organism in order to reproduce, and thus, it seems logical that the virus could redirect other cellular properties as well as synaptic activity. As viruses themselves also straddle the definition of life and death, it seems the perfect explanation for the symptoms prevalent in any Zombie.
The proponents of VCT (Viral Control Theory) believe that a host infected by the Zombie virus will die and all subsequent cellular activity is regulated by alterations in the DNA caused by the virus. This is what I like to call a "puppet master" hypothesis in that the virus now represents the true living organism and is directing all functions of otherwise dead tissue.
Opponents of this theory usually maintain that such parasitic behavior would be beyond the scope of a virus. While it's true a virus can manipulate the host cell in order to reproduce, the ability to stimulate the necessary synaptic activity for complete reanimation would require vast cellular control. Opponents also state the amount and rate of cellular decay rampant in the undead tends to disprove VCT. If cells are being manipulated to allow for reanimation, why are the cells also decaying? The amount of possible viral activity in dead tissue remains a consistent point of contention.
Personally, I like the arguments behind VCT. I think it explains the differences in Zombies we have discussed right here in this thread. If we hold that the infecting agent is actually a virus and this virus can mutate, then we would expect differences in behavioral reanimation. Zombies from one strain might be slow and ponderous, while those infected by a different strain could be fast and agile. A certain viral strain might cause the host to search out brains and only brains, while a mutated strain might be more than happy with any flesh it can get its mouth upon.