What does the blue in blue cheese do – and how does it get there?

According to legend, the mould in blue cheese was discovered by a distracted shepherd – while that may not actually be the case, the truth is equally fascinating …

Mould is everywhere. Anyone who has seen the little black spores cling to their bathroom ceiling or smelled spoilt food in their fridge will be familiar with this fact of life. While there’s reason to feel squeamish about some of these microorganisms, if you can get past your squeamishness you’ll discover that moulds and other fungi are fascinating. They are crucial in maintaining ecosystems where they help plants to grow and even to communicate with one another.

Humans have been harnessing the power of fungi for medical purposes for thousands of years, and nowadays they play a role in anything from antibiotics to drugs such as cyclosporine, developed from the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum, which can be used as an immunosuppressant to help prevent donated organs being rejected.