Colleen Mangold

Postdoctoral Researcher

Huck Affiliations

News Articles Featuring Colleen Mangold

Exploring variations in herpes virus symptoms

Why do some people with cold sores around their lips experience painful lesions, while others have no symptoms at all, yet still spread the virus? A new study conducted at Penn State finds that these differences could be due to variations in the way certain strains of herpes simplex (HSV-1) — the virus that causes cold sores, as well as genital herpes — activate gene expression in neurons.

'Zombie' ants are dying in a disturbing way, and scientists are puzzled

The zombies on 'The Walking Dead' may be fictional, but "zombie ants" are very real. A fungus is turning carpenter ants into unwitting hosts until they die and decompose, according to a new study from Pennsylvania State University researchers.

Zombie Ants Are Controlled by a 'Master Puppeteer' Parasite, But We Still Don't Know How

A mind-controlling parasite turns ants into zombies, forcing them to climb to the tops of shrubs, bite down and die. Now, a new study finds that the fungus acts like a puppeteer, somehow "pulling" the ants' mouth muscles.

Deadly Fungus Causes Zombie-Like Behavior In Ants

Since zombies are a product of Hollywood, books and other pop culture, no one would expect that such behavior would be possible in the real world. However, a team of scientists observed zombie-like behavior in ants caused by a deadly fungus.

"Zombie Ant Fungus" Takes Control of Insects' Bodies Before Devouring Them From Inside

Scientists have uncovered intriguing new details about a bizarre "zombie fungus" that manipulates the behavior of the carpenter ants it infects—with gruesome results.

Deadly fungus creates 'zombie ants' and hijacks their jaws to cause suicide

If you thought fictional zombies walking around on film were scary, the condition that turns creatures into mindless eating machines actually exists in nature. In ants.

Now We Know How The Zombie Ant Gets Its Bite

How do we begin to comprehend the astonishing complexity of a fungus that invades an ant’s body, grows throughout its tissues, and orders the host to climb up a tree and bite onto a twig, killing it and exploding out the back of its head to rain down spores on more ants below?

Zombifying fungus bypasses the brain to make ants its puppets, study finds

SEM images showed strange bead-like particles that could also play a role.

A deadly fungus gives ‘zombie’ ants a case of lockjaw

Closeups of infected ants’ jaw muscles may reveal clues to how the fungi take over

How a Deadly Invading Fungus Forces "Zombie" Ants Into a Final Death Grip

Zombification may be the stuff of science fiction for humans, but for insects, getting zombified is a very real threat. Scientists and Planet Earth afficionados may recall the cases of ants found clinging to high leaves and twigs with a strange, nefarious fungus sprouting from their corpses.