Killer fungi detectives: inside the lab that may be fighting the next pandemic

Researchers in Adelaide are at the forefront of finding new fungal pathogens, which are spreading more because of climate change and can be deadly without effective drugs

The first tray of yellow-lidded specimen jars holds chunks of flesh – lung, perhaps, or muscle – some cerebrospinal fluid and another liquid, possibly from a brain abscess. The second holds a rainbow of colourful fungi, cultivated from those specimens.

One growth is green and fluffy, like something you’d find in a sharehouse fridge – penicillium, maybe. Another is a dark grey or brown, like animal fur. There are bright white fuzzballs and blackish blobs. One growth leaches red into the medium it sits in.

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