Elizabeth Anne Brown, The hidden threat eating away at museum treasures, Scientific American, 20 January 2026
Extremophile molds are invading art museums and devouring their collections. Stigma and climate change have fueled their spread
Edited by Kate Wong
Last summer I polled the great art houses of Europe with a seemingly straightforward question: Had they had any recent experiences with mold in their collections?
Mold is a perennial scourge in museums that can disfigure and destroy art and artifacts. To keep this microbial foe in check, institutions follow protocols designed to deter the familiar fungi that thrive in humid settings. But it seems a new front has opened in this long-standing battle. I’d recently heard rumblings that curators in my then home base of Denmark have been wrestling with perplexing infestations that seem to defy the normal rules of engagement. I wondered how pervasive the problem might be.