by Clio Morata de Jong and Nico Morales — In the realm of nat­ural mind con­trol, few phe­nom­ena are as grip­ping – lit­er­ally – as the death grip of the par­a­sitic fun­gus in the genus Ophio­cordy­ceps. This fun­gus doesn't just kill its car­pen­ter ant hosts; it trans­forms them into in­stru­ments of fun­gal prop­a­ga­tion.