4 ms·

"In yearly cicadas, the fungus makes them instead become hypersexual from psilocybin — the same chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms." I don't understand wh

by neom 5y ago

"In yearly cicadas, the fungus makes them instead become hypersexual from psilocybin — the same chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms." I don't understand what's being said here. The fungus causes them to eat magic mushrooms? Edit: This is a better article: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/massospora-parasite-drugs-its-hosts/566324/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/massospo...

deleted 5y ago
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hinkley 5y ago
Mushrooms are just the fruiting body. Fungal cells don't differentiate, so odds are good that if the mushroom gets you high, eating the dirt under the mushroom - where most of the fungus is - will also do the same thing. If you were somehow infected by one of these mushrooms, you'd be tripping all the time, not unlike the people who have beer yeast in their GI tract are slightly inebriated every time they eat simple sugars.
- neom 5y ago
  That makes so much sense now. Thank you kindly for clarifying.
- tastyfreeze 5y ago
  Injecting spores into your blood stream can infect your body with mushrooms. DO NOT DO THIS, it can be fatal. https://www.insider.com/man-injected-with-mushrooms-grew-in-blood-caused-organ-failure-2021-1 https://www.insider.com/man-injected-with-mushrooms-grew-in-...
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    Looks like he had bipolar disorder. Manic episodes can produce imprudent behavior such as this.
  - hinkley 5y ago
    Wait. If he boiled the mushrooms, how did get spores? Does that mean Agaricales spores can survive 100ºC? Yikes.
GauntletWizard 5y ago
Psilocybin is the active ingredient (a psychedelic prodrug, or drug precursor that's metabolized into a drug) in Magic Mushrooms. The fungus generates psilocybin and sheds it into the cicada, causing them to become hypersexual.
- neom 5y ago
  I wonder how the fungus knew how to make psilocybin, and that psilocybin was the right thing to make? Nature is pretty intense.
  - bdamm 5y ago
    Presumably this is an outcome of selective breeding. The symbiotic interaction results in more offspring for both species. The invisible hand of mother gaia "knows".
    - besnn00 5y ago
      But the cicadas have no genitalia at that point.
- hinkley 5y ago
  I did not realize just how many different kind of mushrooms produce that chemical. All over order Agaricales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushroom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushroom So what's weird is that Massopora isn't even in the same division as Agaricales. They're both fungi. So what does that mean? That the classification is wrong, convergeant evolution, or fungi have been making drugs for an insanely long time?
happytoexplain 5y ago
I don't totally follow your confusion - it's "the same chemical found in magic mushrooms". It's not implying they consume magic mushrooms.
pmoriarty 5y ago
This reminds me of the film that kicked off David Cronenberg's career (and also one of the first films in the body horror genre): Shivers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivers_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivers_(film)

by neom 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

hinkley 5y ago

Mushrooms are just the fruiting body. Fungal cells don't differentiate, so odds are good that if the mushroom gets you high, eating the dirt under the mushroom - where most of the fungus is - will also do the same thing. If you were somehow infected by one of these mushrooms, you'd be tripping all the time, not unlike the people who have beer yeast in their GI tract are slightly inebriated every time they eat simple sugars.

neom 5y ago
That makes so much sense now. Thank you kindly for clarifying.
tastyfreeze 5y ago
Injecting spores into your blood stream can infect your body with mushrooms. DO NOT DO THIS, it can be fatal. https://www.insider.com/man-injected-with-mushrooms-grew-in-blood-caused-organ-failure-2021-1 https://www.insider.com/man-injected-with-mushrooms-grew-in-...
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  Looks like he had bipolar disorder. Manic episodes can produce imprudent behavior such as this.
- hinkley 5y ago
  Wait. If he boiled the mushrooms, how did get spores? Does that mean Agaricales spores can survive 100ºC? Yikes.

GauntletWizard 5y ago

Psilocybin is the active ingredient (a psychedelic prodrug, or drug precursor that's metabolized into a drug) in Magic Mushrooms. The fungus generates psilocybin and sheds it into the cicada, causing them to become hypersexual.

neom 5y ago
I wonder how the fungus knew how to make psilocybin, and that psilocybin was the right thing to make? Nature is pretty intense.
- bdamm 5y ago
  Presumably this is an outcome of selective breeding. The symbiotic interaction results in more offspring for both species. The invisible hand of mother gaia "knows".
  - besnn00 5y ago
    But the cicadas have no genitalia at that point.
hinkley 5y ago
I did not realize just how many different kind of mushrooms produce that chemical. All over order Agaricales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushroom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_mushroom So what's weird is that Massopora isn't even in the same division as Agaricales. They're both fungi. So what does that mean? That the classification is wrong, convergeant evolution, or fungi have been making drugs for an insanely long time?

happytoexplain 5y ago

I don't totally follow your confusion - it's "the same chemical found in magic mushrooms". It's not implying they consume magic mushrooms.

pmoriarty 5y ago

This reminds me of the film that kicked off David Cronenberg's career (and also one of the first films in the body horror genre): Shivers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivers_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivers_(film)