BACKGROUND Blastomycosis is a potentially fatal mycosis that is acquired by inhaling infectious spores of Blastomyces dermatitidis present in the environment. The ecology of this pathogen is poorly understood, in part because it has been extremely difficult to identify the niche(s) it occupies based on culture isolation of the organism from environmental samples. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING...

Human health often depends on environmental variables and is generally subject to widespread and comprehensive surveillance. Compared with other available measures of ecosystem health, human disease incidence may be one of the most useful and practical bioindicators for the often elusive gauge of ecologic well-being. We argue that many subtle ecosystem disruptions are often identified only as a...

Most models of how science works propose that competition between ideas contributes to the advancement of knowledge. Criticism of scientific work plays a part in facilitating such competition by exposing the strengths and weaknesses of rival explanations , encouraging debate, and suggesting alternatives. Nevertheless, not all criticism has equal value to the scientific process. In a review of e...