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Podcast: Inside the creeping threat of fungal infections
November 23, 2022
Some fungal infections, like athletes' foot or thrush, are relatively common and are usually not serious. But in those with underlying conditions or compromised immune systems, fungal infections can be deadly.
In recent weeks, the World Health Organisation has warned of the serious threat that fungi pose to humans with a new report and list of priority fungal pathogens. In this episode of Microbe Talk, Charlotte takes a look inside the creeping threat of fungal infections with guests Prof Kevin Kavanagh and Prof Neil Gow.
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Fungal diseases: a silent threat you need to know about
April 26, 2020
Fungal diseases have an enormous public health impact worldwide, with low and middle-income countries disproportionately affected by fungal pathogens. Here, Dr Gerard Sheehan, Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, explains why it is important to research fungal diseases.
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Microbe Talk: Cryptococcus neoformans – The Pigeon Fungus
March 29, 2019
On this month’s podcast, we discuss the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans with Dr Liz Ballou from the University of Birmingham.
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The state of the world's fungi symposium
September 25, 2018
On 12 September, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew published a comprehensive report on the state of the world’s fungi highlighting the often overlooked importance of this kingdom. To coincide with this, a two-day international symposium was organised. My knowledge of fungi was minimal (other than an appreciation for Portobello mushrooms) and so I was excited to attend and learn more!
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A killer snake fungus has been found in wild British snakes for the first time
July 20, 2017
Back in April 2016, we wrote about an emerging disease that’s been killing wild snake populations in North America. Snake fungal disease, or SFD, is an infection that leads to blisters and lesions on snakes’ skin, turning scales yellow and crusty, and making eyes clouded and milky. Last year, scientists identified that the disease is caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungus that eats the keratin in infected tissue (the same protein found in nails and hair, although O. ophiodiicola only infects snakes).
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The fungus that makes ‘zombie ants’ could use biological clocks to control their minds
May 24, 2017
The world of parasites can sometimes be extremely gruesome. Take, for example, the charming female jewel wasp, which uses a cockroach as a living incubator for its larvae. The wasp stings the roach in the brain, and leads the much bigger host by its antennae into a burrow before laying an egg inside its abdomen. The cockroach, being completely under the jewel wasp’s spell, doesn’t protest. Once the egg hatches, the larva consumes the cockroach from the inside out. Lovely.
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Pioneer fungi start degrading dead wood before it hits the ground
April 5, 2017
Next time you go walking in a forest during the summer months, take a look up and see if you can spot any branches missing their leaves. It might not seem obvious at first, but you’re looking at a poorly understood, although rather important, ecosystem.
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In New York State, bats are showing signs of recovery from white-nose syndrome
March 29, 2017
Bats in North America are in trouble. Millions of them have died over the past few years, over an area that stretches for thousands of miles, from Nova Scotia in Eastern Canada to Nebraska in the heart of North America. This area is moving steadily west, although isolated cases have already been found in Seattle on the US West Coast.
