Monday 1 October 2012

Genetic detectives hunt the global amphibian killer


'AN UNKNOWN disease springs out of nowhere and sweeps across the globe, leaving millions of dead bodies strewn in its wake. Even worse, the disease strikes not just one species, but hundreds. Nothing can check the epidemic, which threatens to drive many species to extinction....' Bob Holmes has written a thrilling article in the New Scientist about the emergence of Batrachochytrium. And, close on the heels of Bob's article comes 'Attack of the Clones' by Kai Kupferschmidt in Science, featuring Joel Sartore's now iconic image of the Sierran Rana dieoffs. It's great to see such high-quality journalist-written articles appearing in the wider media, publicising the impacts of Batrachochytrium and other emerging infectious fungi.