Frogs and other amphibians are under attack from a fungus. First observed some two decades ago, the fungus has swept the world and has been implicated in the extinctions of hundreds of species. Yet it’s really only been in the past few years that scientists have started to get a handle on how it makes frogs sick and kills them. In my “Matter” column this week in the New York TimesIn my “Matter” column this week in the New York Times, I take a look at an experiment that offers a glimmer of hope. If frogs don’t get killed by the fungus, they develop some defenses against later infections.

It’s conceivable that someday scientists might, in effect, vaccinate amphibians