This then allows the slime mold to proceed to the second "plasmodium" stage. In contrast to fungi, the plasmodium feeds on bacteria, fungal hyphae, and other microorganisms, ingesting them through ...

This keeps them from evolving resistance, but wouldn't keep them from spreading Plasmodium. To do that, they turned to a bit of genetic engineering, creating fungi that produce various proteins ...

fungi and bacteria (Smithsonian, July 1991). Slime molds are like nothing else on earth. In their plasmodium stage, they show a quality that could be called intelligence: chopped up and dropped ...

If the mosquitoes are infected with fungi soon after they pick up Plasmodium, they’ll die before they can pass them on. If they’re infected any later, they could still spread malaria before dying.