With its tropical climate and persistent moisture, New Orleans has long been a hotbed of fungal disease and research. But when hurricane Katrina blew through, the town quite literally became one giant mycology laboratory. "We're the mold capital of America now," says Seth Pincus, director of the Research Institute for Children at Children's Hospital, New Orleans.
Mold is everywhere, on everything. Pincus, an immunologist, says his facility spent three weeks cleaning up the fungus that took over his freezers and filled his sample boxes. "I was amazed at the power of mold," he says. "People trying to reclaim their houses after the floods have spent tens of thousands of dollars to have houses cleaned and disinfected, only to have mold grow back." He adds that it has also been blamed for respiratory illnesses.
And yet much remains unknown, such as how to speciate molds, which species and proteins in particular ...
