New research has shown sex between genetically identical organisms could actually be a mutanagenic - creating genetic changes and diversity from scratch.
Scientists had been unsure why fungi and micro-organisms procreate with exact replicas of themselves where the expected outcome was more of the same.
The new findings could help researchers understand how pathogenic microbes evolve to cause and spread diseases such as the ongoing outbreak of Cryptococcus, which is linked to the deaths of more than 600,000 people worldwide who have compromised immune systems - such as HIV/AIDS patients.
Read more at Duke University