Research into the sex lives of pathogens helps scientists understand how new strains of disease-causing microbes arise. But new results show they also use sex to swap genes between strains. In the past, many disease-causing protozoa were thought to reproduce by splitting in half with no genetic exchange, which is the common way that most microbes reproduce. Sex allows genes from two parents to be mixed, leading to new combinations of genes in the offspring. There is no denying that humans think sex is important, but it also matters for microbes.
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