Reproductive cells capable of developing into new organisms without fertilization. Produced by fungi, bacteria, and some plants as a means of reproduction and survival.
From Greek 'spora' meaning 'seed, sowing' (from 'speirein' 'to sow'). The term was adopted into scientific Latin in the 19th century as microscopy revealed these tiny reproductive units in fungi and other organisms.
Spores are nature's ultimate survival capsules - some can remain dormant for thousands of years and still spring to life when conditions are right! Anthrax spores found in Egyptian tombs have been revived after millennia, and fungi spores can survive the vacuum of space, making them candidates for how life might travel between planets.
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