Science

Magic mushrooms have been used in traditional ceremonies and for recreational purposes for thousands of years. However, a new study has found that mushrooms evolved the ability to make the same psychoactive substance twice. The discovery has important implications for both our understanding of these mushrooms’ role in nature and their medical potential.

Magic mushrooms produce psilocybin, which your body converts into its active form, psilocin, when you ingest it. Psilocybin rose in popularity in the 1960s and was eventually classed as a Schedule 1 drug in the US in 1970, and as a Class A drug in 1971 in the UK, the designations given to drugs that have high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. This put a stop to research on the medical use of psilocybin for decades.

But recent clinical trials have shown that psilocybin can reduce depression severity, suicidal thoughts and chronic anxiety.

Some not-so-clinical trials have reached the same conclusion. Still, it's a bit unclear where researchers are finding a bottleneck on producing cubensis. Give those fuckers the right environment, and after the fourth flush, you're trying to give them away as soon as they're dry.

This study may provide scientists with additional tools to produce psilocybin to use for medical purposes. Mushrooms tend to grow slowly both in nature and in the laboratory. Psilocybe (magic mushrooms) take about two months to grow from spores to mature mushrooms.

Oof. "May provide" is lousy writing and invites the reader to internalize "but then again, it may not."

Pedantry aside, these scientists need to try growing a vegetable. "Two months is an eternity!" Yeah, compared to bacterium.

And it's a bit involved but not complex with SOPs proven to avoid contamination. Getting there's the hard part. After that, you should have plenty of liquid culture good to go, and from there, it's just a matter of inoculating, breaking and sending to bulk ahead of multiple flushes per cake.

Like, it's way easier than actually doing organic chemistry!

If large amounts of psilocybin are needed for testing in clinical trials or for future medical use, quick and sustainable ways of producing it should be investigated.

Scale. Let's be conservative and presume two flushes per 6L-shoebox cake. Once you've got to liquid culture, you can start filling jars daily to have a constant supply.

Currently, psilocybin is produced using synthetic material because it is faster than extracting the compound from mushrooms and has higher yields.

It's also still produced the old-fashioned way.

This has its drawbacks though. The current synthetic extraction methods that scientists use generate hazardous waste and include key steps that can only be carried out on a small scale.

Because what I want from psychedelic therapy is producing hazardous chemicals as a byproduct. With spent cakes, you can compost them, trash them or just throw them in the yard and hope they react to the next rainstorm.

Enzymes are inherently more sustainable than non-biological catalysts because they generally operate in mild conditions (such as low temperature and neutral pH) and are easier to purify, which reduces energy consumption and waste. Also, enzymes are biodegradable, which helps decrease the environmental impact of industrial processes.

Ya think?