
Candida albicans yeast cells. A. A yeast exposed with beta-glucan shows strong fluorescent signal. B. Normal yeast cells with masked beta-glucan show little fluorescence.
It lives naturally inside some of us, but under the right circumstances it can grow out of control and cause systemic fungal infections. Systemic infections can be life-threatening with up to a 40 percent mortality rate, especially among immune-compromised individuals.