Cancer-fighting fungus found in King Tut's tomb

Could a deadly fungus be used to save people's lives?

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A "pharaoh's curse" fungus found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun may hold the key to a new cancer treatment, say scientists. When archaeologists (experts who study ancient objects) opened the Egyptian pharaoh's tomb in 1922, several people involved in the excavation died in the years following the find. This led to the idea that they were killed by a magical spell laid on the grave when it had been sealed - King Tut's Curse. Years later, in 1973 in Poland, 12 scientists entered the tomb of Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon, who died more than 500 years ago. Within weeks, 10 of them had died.

Scientists have suggested that a fungus could have caused some of the deaths. The tombs of both the pharaoh and King Casimir contained toxic fungi called Aspergillus flavus - the powdery spores of which could have made the explorers ill.