ZOMBIES FROM SPACE: AN INTERPLANETARY PLAGUE

Humans have long looked to the stars for answers, and have even begun to search celestial bodies for signs of life itself. However, in this search for life, humans could accidentally pick up microbial space travelers and bring them back to Earth. These microscopic cosmic free-loaders could be viruses or bacteria that make us sick in ways that are difficult to imagine. Could such an interplanetary pathogen infect Earthlings and kick off the zombie apocalypse?

Our species’ first encounter with celestial bodies occurred in 1969, during the Moon landing of Apollo 11. With his very first step onto the surface of the moon, astronaut Neil Armstrong famously said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” But that small step could easily have become one giant leap for infectious Moon microbes back to Earth!

To prevent this possibility, the astronauts were quarantined immediately upon their return to Earth in a Mobile Quarantine Facility, then moved to more long-term quarantine facilities at Johnson Space Center. Fortunately, none of the astronauts developed lunar zombie-ism.

Since the Moon landing, our astral aspirations have shifted to other planets. And researchers have recently observed that a gas called phosphine appears in the clouds of Venus, which is known to be produced by microbes on Earth. This discovery may actually suggest a possible microbial source for the beautiful gas clouds found on this ancient planet (although there could be other reasons that the gas appears in the clouds of Venus, if it’s even there at all).

Scientists are also particularly interested in Mars, often considered the planet most likely to have life-harboring potential due to its striking similarities with Earth. The Red Planet could even contain signs of an essential ingredient for life itself – water. And research suggests that water may still be under the surface of Mars to this day, further fueling our endless quest for extraterrestrial life. However, this search may eventually uncover deadly Martian microbes that poison our samples, infect our astronauts, and turn humanity into man-eating zombies!

Initial explorations of Mars have been limited to robots taking pictures, analyzing samples, and sending data back to Earth. However, if contaminated samples ever returned to Earth, how could we possibly prevent an alien plague from spreading throughout the population?

An analysis of the planetary protection requirements as published by the National Research Council concludes that the potential risk of pathogenesis from almost any sample cannot be reduced to zero. Therefore, all interplanetary samples must be treated as potentially deadly biohazards and kept in complete isolation. To accomplish this, the NRC describes the need for a sample receiving facility with adequate containment, cleanliness, and skilled personnel. These recommendations eventually helped NASA develop the Planetary Protection Policy, which establishes guidelines to protect Earth “from harmful contamination from space.”

A Mars Sample Receiving Laboratory would require BSL-4 containment, which is the highest level of biohazard containment currently available and the level at which scientists work with dangerous, frequently fatal pathogens such as Ebola. (This level of containment involves not storing deadly viruses in fragile glass containers; we’re looking at you, Umbrella Corporation.) However, the potential release of pathogens from many facilities like these have recently caused concern and scrutiny in the U.S. After all, how many zombie outbreaks in films start with a breakout from a secret research facility? (Still looking at you, Umbrella Corporation!)

As we continue to search the stars, we may find cosmic creatures that could prove deadly. Perhaps we’ll encounter Martian microorganisms, Venusian viruses, or Saternalian symbiotes. Another possibility is that we could contaminate other planets with our own microorganisms.

Bacterial spores can survive the vacuum of space for years, meaning they could hitchhike through the galaxy on human spaceships. Microbes and human DNA can be found in human feces, which astronauts left behind on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. And in 2019, an unmanned spacecraft crashed into the moon, spilling its payload of microscopic creatures called tardigrades across the lunar surface. Even the bacteria and viruses that live harmlessly in and on our bodies could cause disease in other species. If we’re not careful, humans could actually bring an interplanetary pandemic to other worlds… making us the space zombies!

Guest post by Ashley Knox – Ashley Knox is a Colorado native living in Denver. Her love of zombie movies started at a young age and resulted in such antics as a zombie-themed “Sweet 16” birthday party, acting in a haunted house attraction, numerous zombie crawls, and a college thesis on post-humanist philosophy in zombie films. Fascinated by the virology of a potential zombie pathogen and curious about how such a disease could spread, Ashley chose to pursue a career in microbiology. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Colorado, where she is working on a PhD dissertation based on her studies of gammaherpesviruses.