5 ms·

Mycology. Not a company but a novel and underinvested space with 3000+ yr history with antiviral applications. Paul Stamets is the go-to guy here but likely sla

by mceoin 7y ago

Mycology. Not a company but a novel and underinvested space with 3000+ yr history with antiviral applications. Paul Stamets is the go-to guy here but likely slammed. His talk, into the mycoverse, goes into detail about how he was brought in to do battery testing post-9/11 and how basically all polypore mushrooms (common globally) have some antiviral properties. Some are super-potent. At risk of being called "the crazy mushroom guy" I'm including here because I know this is a vastly underinvested in space and has huge latent potential WRT antivirals. The reason it is underinvested in is because patents are hard (used for 1000s of years) so big pharma stay away. Long shot, but also could be tested everywhere, reasonably cheaply. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0rkcrWqsV4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0rkcrWqsV4

Alex3917 7y ago
Are there any mushrooms that have shown antiviral effects against SARS or other viruses in the Coronavirus family? I know there are a ton of studies on this for plant-based medicine in relation to SARS and MERS, but I haven't looked much into mushrooms for this. (Even as an amateur mycologist.) I know folks have been recommending cordyceps for COVID-19, but not because it has antiviral properties. Given that hunting for cordyceps is about the only safe thing to do in NYC right now, maybe this will be the year I actually find it for myself. (Albeit the species that's common in NYC doesn't have any history of being used medicinally afaik.)
- mceoin 7y ago
  I haven't seen anything specifically related to COVID-19 and won't speculate. I'm also not a scientist or medical professional, so just think of me as some guy on the Internet saying "mycology is an interesting non-big-pharma industry that has bio-prospecting potential due to its anti-viral properties", and Paul Stamets is the source of that statement. (Personally, I'm making a lot of Reishi tea and taking a spectrum of polypore supplements as a general immune booster, not a specific defense against COVID-19). P.S. good luck finding cordyceps!

by mceoin 7y ago

Alex3917 7y ago

Are there any mushrooms that have shown antiviral effects against SARS or other viruses in the Coronavirus family? I know there are a ton of studies on this for plant-based medicine in relation to SARS and MERS, but I haven't looked much into mushrooms for this. (Even as an amateur mycologist.) I know folks have been recommending cordyceps for COVID-19, but not because it has antiviral properties. Given that hunting for cordyceps is about the only safe thing to do in NYC right now, maybe this will be the year I actually find it for myself. (Albeit the species that's common in NYC doesn't have any history of being used medicinally afaik.)

mceoin 7y ago
I haven't seen anything specifically related to COVID-19 and won't speculate. I'm also not a scientist or medical professional, so just think of me as some guy on the Internet saying "mycology is an interesting non-big-pharma industry that has bio-prospecting potential due to its anti-viral properties", and Paul Stamets is the source of that statement. (Personally, I'm making a lot of Reishi tea and taking a spectrum of polypore supplements as a general immune booster, not a specific defense against COVID-19). P.S. good luck finding cordyceps!