Zombies rule the world in Zom 100! But in the eyes of Akira Tendo and the rest of his group, these zombies are unfortunate people who lost their lives due to the widespread infection! So, will they find a cure in Zom 100?
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is one of the funniest comedy anime to date.
It has a witty take on zombie survival that opens the audience’s eyes to the difficulties of the working class, chasing one’s dreams, and never giving up!
Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers from the Zom 100 Manga!
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Is There a Zombie Vaccine in Zom 100?
To this day, a zombie vaccine is nonexistent in Zom 100. Every day, there are still hundreds and thousands of people getting infected by the widespread zombie virus, not only in Japan but in the rest of the world.
Akira Tendo’s mission is to cross off all the items on his ultimate bucket list of the dead.
But most importantly, Akira aims to find a zombie vaccine that will turn the situation around for everyone’s benefit, especially after Shizuka got bitten in the arm and survived.
With this, Akira, along with Shizuka, Kencho, Bea, and Takemina, believes that there’s still hope for humanity to return to their normal lives. However, there is little hope for those who are already zombies.
There is nothing they can do for them, even though a vaccine will be produced in the future if God forbids it.
Despite this, Akira and the others will stop at nothing to find a cure. It will not be a surprise if sometime in the future they manage to find something, not to mention understand where the zombie virus began.
They have suspicions about Umbriel Corporation, an international megacorporation headquartered in America, but everything about the pharmaceutical company is still a mystery.
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Will They Find a Cure in Zom 100?
There's a good chance Akira and the others will find a cure in Zom 100, now that they were joined on their quest by Izuna and Tsuru.
Izuna is a peculiar girl who is immune to zombie infection, whereas Tsuru is continuously looking for a zombie vaccine to save the whole world.
It'll be up to Akira and the others to keep them safe while they do their thing.
Akira and the crew ended up in one of Umbriel Corporation's research centers in the most recent chapters of Zom 100. It is home to some of the most cutting-edge laboratory facilities, which are critical to Tsuru's research.
However, it is not that simple to create a cure and/or zombie vaccine even after they have Izuna’s antibodies, much to Akira’s dismay.
They can only produce a serum for the time being, but its effects are not 100% effective.
In Shizuka’s case, she was able to recover from a zombie bite due to the serum made from Izuna’s antibodies. But this doesn’t mean that it will be the same for everyone.
The serum worked after Tsuru injected Izuna’s antibodies directly into Shizuka’s body to trigger an AAR, or Antigen-Antibody reaction.
In other words, what Tsuru did was more of a treatment, contrary to how a vaccine works.
According to Tsuru, those who are injected with Izuna's antibodies will have unique reactions, and it is not assured that they will be effective, as was the case with Shizuka. There's also the question of how long it will work.
It was also Tsuru’s first clinical trial, and the efficacy of the neutralizing antibodies is still unknown. They just have to pray that it works! Yikes!
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So, How Will They Produce a Zombie Vaccine in Zom 100?
For now, Tsuru holds the power to produce a zombie vaccine in Zom 100. But it will take a very long time to produce one!
Yes, Izuna possesses antibodies against the zombie virus, but they only work on her cells.
And when people vaccinate themselves, they develop the ability to produce their own antibodies, but Izuna's antibodies are not vaccines in and of themselves.
In layman's words, Akira felt it sounded like Izuna had the entire cake to herself, but what they really needed from her was the recipe!
However, reproducing and altering Izuna's immunity is required to make the vaccine, and her antibodies are critical to this process.
A zombie virus serum is likewise not a suitable substitute for vaccination. For one thing, because everyone's antibodies are designed to attack and expel foreign stuff, the injected antibodies deplete rapidly in a few weeks.
Besides, Tsuru can't keep re-administering the serum because it loses potency with each use.
Furthermore, the antibodies are only effective against one type of virus. The serum will have no effect on it if it evolves and mutates.
Viruses continuously adapt to their hosts, so the zombie vaccine Tsuru needs to create will need to do the same in order to be effective.
If Akira and the gang are successful in vaccinating the majority of the surviving population, the virus will have a lower probability of spreading and will finally die out.
As a result, everyone has a better chance of success if they can make their own antibodies rather than relying on a serum.
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