Canadians could soon lose access to a unique public collection of fungi that scientists say is crucial for important research, such as developing new drugs to treat antibiotic-resistant pathogens and treatments for fungal diseases emerging in a warmer climate. The public biobank at the UAMH Centre for Global Microfungal Biodiversity at the University of Toronto includes 12,000 strains of fungi collected since 1933, said James Scott, a professor at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and director of the centre. “We are really the only biobank in Canada for fungi,” he said. It’s the largest collection of disease-causing fungi in the Western hemisphere, where Canadian researchers from industry, public health labs and colleges and universities can research diseases and their treatments. But it has run out of funding. Unless a government or other funder steps up, the collection will likely be sent overseas.