Scientists have been more closely examining the type of fungi present in Roquefort cheese, and as it turns out, the mold, which was traditionally thought to reproduce asexually, has shown convincing evidence of sexual reproduction. Yup, your cheese is gettin' down. This amazing discovery is a reminder that cheese itself is an ecosystem. It also has implications for the evolution of cheese mold species, and therefore, the future of cheese!

Cheese is a pretty weird thing when you think about it. Someone had to come up with the idea of taking a bunch of milk, adding bacteria, letting it basically go bad, and waiting to eat it until mold had grown on it. And, if that grosses you out, just wait. It turns out that the fungi in cheeses like blue cheese aren’t just sitting there, waiting for you to eat them. They’re getting it on.

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Photo by Chris Waits