A genus of fungi that causes a serious lung infection called blastomycosis, usually acquired from soil contaminated with fungal spores.
From 'blasto-' (bud) and Greek 'myces' (fungus), named for the budding appearance of the fungus cells under a microscope, identified in the 1890s.
Blastomyces is a shape-shifter organism—it lives as a mold in cool soil but transforms into a yeast inside warm human lungs, essentially becoming two different creatures depending on its environment.
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