What happens when fungi find their way into our brains?
4/22/202643 min
It might sound like something out of TV shows like The Last of Us, but brain-invading fungi are a real-world problem.
Alisha Wainwright speaks to Drs. Rachael Dangarembizi and Rebecca Drummond, an immunologist and a neuroscientist collaborating across continents to tackle Cryptococcal Meningitis – the leading cause of fungal death worldwide.
Dr Kyla Murphy also talks about the new tests and treatments saving lives from the disease, and Alisha shares the story of her own mother's brush with a dangerous fungal infection.
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Mentioned in this episode and further reading:
- Will climate change lead to more fungal infections? An explainer by Wellcome (wellcome.org/insights/articles/will-climate-change-lead-more-fungal-infections)
- Wellcome Fungal Adaptation Call Awardees (wellcome.org/research-funding/funding-portfolio/funded-grants?f%5B0%5D=funding_scheme_grants_awarded%3ABiology%20of%20fungal%20adaptation
- Global incidence and mortality of severe fungal disease, David W Denning, The Lancet Infectious Diseases (thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(23)00692-8/fulltext)
- The WHO fungal priority pathogens list as a gamechanger, Matthew C. Fisher & David W. Denning, Nature Reviews Microbiology (nature.com/articles/s41579-023-00861-x#citeas)
- How fungi shape our world...and how the climate is shaping our fungi – The Naked Scientist Podcast in partnership with Wellcome (thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists-podcast/how-fungi-shape-our-world)
When Science Finds a Way is brought to you by Wellcome, an independent global foundation that supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. For more information and podcast transcripts visit wellcome.org/podcast
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAlisha Wainwright· Host0:00
So as you know over here, we love our evidence-based research. So we have a little survey for you. We wanna know what we should keep doing, maybe start doing, and maybe even stop doing. Takes just 10 minutes. It's completely anonymous. Fill in the survey now for a chance to win a little gift from us. There's a link in the show notes. And again, thank you so much for listening to When Science Finds a Way.
Rebecca Drummond· Guest0:25
We don't really understand a lot about this, uh, kingdom, right? We, we think there's millions of different species, but a lot of those are unidentified or, or uncharacterized. So a lot to learn actually about this one kingdom of life.
Alisha Wainwright· Host0:38
Fungi are an incredibly diverse kingdom. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They live in the soil, in the air, and inside our bodies. And as we learn more about them, scientists are exploring their incredible potential for good to transform agriculture, tackle plastic pollution, and usher in medical breakthroughs. But fungi have another side. What happens when fungi finds its way into our brains? This question sounds like the stuff of sci-fi, and yes, we are looking at you The Last of Us. But for the millions of people around the world whose immune systems are compromised by HIV, by cancer treatment, by organ transplants, this is a very real concern, and it's exactly what we're exploring today, cryptococcal meningitis, and the incredible science