I’m Christina Kackos Brunelle. I received my PhD in Biomedical Sciences with in 2022. I’m a virologist who loves a good outbreak-apocalypse story. Here I'll break down the science behind pop culture outbreaks and how they relate to real-life science.
I’m so excited to share that I’ve created a new Instagram account for my writing. Follow @christinakb_writes for Of Microbes and Men updates, teasers, and more! This is also where I’ll share news about other projects I have in the works. With that in mind…my
Analysis
Four months later and I’m finally wrapping up my thoughts on zombies. To recap, I hate zombies because they are gross and scary. But I love horror movies and outbreak scenarios. So, I decided to do some exposure therapy by watching zombie movies for Halloween. If you haven’t
Analysis
**Spoilers below** This will be the last zombie movie review I post (at least for now). This movie was my personal Everest. I first saw Zombieland in 2010 at a friend’s house and I hated it. I didn’t even watch the whole thing, just the first 45 minutes
News
Welcome to the new home of Of Microbes and Men! In honor of the move to a new platform, the blog has had a glow-up courtesy of my amazing graphic designer, Rose Sauer. Though the site has a new URL and looks different, all of my previous Substack posts are
Analysis
**Spoilers below** I know Halloween is over, but I have a backlog of zombie movies I watched that I haven’t posted about. So, the parade of undead continues with Shaun of the Dead. This 2004 movie is widely regarded as a staple of the subgenre as it riffs on
Analysis
**Spoilers below** After taking a quick detour with Warm Bodies, I returned to the George Romero zombie-verse with Dawn of the Dead. Online reviews tell me all of the movies in the Dead series are bangers and so far I have to agree. Dawn of the Dead is a direct
Analysis
**Spoilers below** I’ve successfully watched my second zombie movie, 2013’s Warm Bodies based on a book of the same name by Isaac Marion. I’m still keeping things relatively lowkey as I ease myself into the genre and Warm Bodies definitely fits that bill. The movie follows R,
Analysis
**This movie is 57 years old, but just in case, spoilers below** It seemed fitting to start my zombie desensitization with the genesis of the subgenre as we know it: George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Not only is this movie the progenitor of modern zombie lore,
News
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, and since pretty much all of you reading this right now are friends and family, you know that in the last few years I’ve moved across the country (again), started a new job, and then unexpectedly started another. I
Analysis
Futurama “Cold Warriors” Review Part II In my last post I reviewed season 6 episode 24 of Futurama, “Cold Warriors”, in which the cold virus is transported to the year 3000 via the main character who was cryogenically frozen in 2000. Because the cold has been eradicated from the future
Analysis
Why we haven’t cured the common cold Futurama “Cold Warriors” Review Part I After watching The Last of Us for nine weeks I’ve decided I could use a palate cleanser. Something lighthearted that gives my psyche a break before I return to zombie and zombie-adjacent media, and the
Analysis
A dissection of Ellie’s immunity in the season one finale of The Last of Us ***Spoilers for the season one finale of HBO’s The Last of Us*** I had planned for “There is No Cure” to be my last post about The Last of Us, but after watching