The undead in culture and science

Abstract

The undead have a significant role in mythology, religion, folklore, and literature. In the 1800s, the word zombie was used to describe reanimated corpses in the Caribbean who often worked on plantations doing long, arduous field work. The movie White Zombie was released in 1932 and exploited this folklore, but it ignored the fact that zombies represent one outcome in Vodou religious beliefs regarding death and the migration of spirits following death. The interest in zombies eventually led to sociological and medical investigations into zombification. Wade Davis reported that powders used by malevolent priests (bokors) contained tetrodotoxin, which could cause the neurologic changes underlying the zombie phenotype. Recent clinical studies have indicated that synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones can cause bizarre zombie-like behavior. According to Haitian folklore, zombies can develop when bokors reanimate someone who suddenly died from an acute illness or who was purposely poisoned. Recent studies in molecular biology suggest that the sequence of programmed cell death can be reversed when the stressor is removed and that cells, tissues, and bodies (at least in Drosophila flies) can recover. These scientific studies would support the remote possibility that the near dead might recover under certain circumstances but have residual neuropsychological dysfunction. Alternatively, the bokors could maintain control of their victims using drugs with properties similar to those of synthetic cannabinoids. The concept of zombification needs to be considered in the context of culture, religion, and science.

Keywords: Anastasis; Vodou; synthetic cannabinoids; tetrodotoxin; zombie.

Figure 1.

Portions of Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh. This cuneiform writing depicts Gilgamesh and Enkidu meeting Humbaba, guardian of the Cedar Forest. The tablet dates to the Old Babylonian Period, 2003–1595 bce. Photograph by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, FRCP; Wikimedia, open access.

Figure 2.

A zombie at twilight in a field of sugarcane in Haiti. By Jean-Noel Lafargue; Wikimedia, Open Access.

Figure 3.

Morphological changes during apoptosis. (a) Electromicrograph of untreated human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) demonstrates the normal structure of HeLa cancer cell. Nucleus (N), nucleolus (NL), and the cytoplasm appeared without abnormal changes (×4600). (b) Zerumbone (ZER)-treated (24 hours) human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) demonstrate morphological features of early apoptosis: cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation (arrow), and integrity of plasma membrane (×6000). (c) ZER-treated human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) demonstrate the condensed cristae of mitochondria (MC) as a typical morphological feature in apoptosis (arrow) (×27,500). (d) ZER-treated (48 hours) human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) demonstrates morphological features of intermediate apoptosis: cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation (white arrow), and membrane blebbing (small white arrow) (×6000). (e) ZER-treated (72 hours) cervical cancer cells (HeLa) demonstrate morphological feature of late apoptosis: nuclear collapse, continuing blebbing, and apoptotic body formation (arrow) (×10,000). Reprinted from Abdel Wahab et al; Open Access.