Sexually reproducing grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum, is better at fighting off a harmful virus than asexually reproducing grass. Scientists studied this grass and found that sexual offspring performed better than asexual offspring when faced with a pathogen called barley yellow dwarf virus. The virus, spread by aphids, caused lower fitness in asexual plants compared to healthy ones. The advantage of sexual reproduction is thought to come from producing unique and rare offspring that evade infections. When planted together, rare genotypes were less likely to get infected than common ones. Overall, rare and sexually produced grass genotypes seem to have an edge against various pathogens in the field due to their novelty and scarcity. This research sheds light on the advantages of sex in plants when it comes to dealing with harmful infections.