Fungal pathogens have a major global impact upon human health — they are often difficult to diagnose and treat, and there is an urgent need for better diagnostics and more effective antifungal treatments. Using newly developed imaging technologies, researchers have now revealed how Candida albicans, a common fungus, evades immune responses. According to the researchers this involves an ‘alien-like’ shape shifting that allows the fungus to break out of immune cells.