This episode’s guest needs no introduction. Kevin McKernan of Medicinal Genomics is back to talk about Psilocybin and the mushrooms that create it. Kevin and the team at MGC have published a highly contiguous reference genome for Psilocybe cubensis, which some listeners may know is the species of mushroom often referred to as the magic mushroom.

Kevin and the team have also sequenced several different mushroom strains to try and better understand genes of interest and pathways responsible for Psilocybin. 

If you are new to Psilocybin and mushrooms, don’t worry we cover the basics as well as new findings in our conversation, including: 

Potential therapeutic applications for PsilocybinWhat is fueling the rapidly growing interest Psilocybin Psilocybin’s path towards legalization  Other psychoactive compounds found in mushrooms How mushrooms are cultivated and bred and what that means for applying genomics The discovery that there is more than one way mushrooms synthesize Psilocybinand more

Thanks to this Episode's Sponsor The Future of Psychedelic Medicine

The Future of Psychedelic Medicine campaign highlights the R&D and innovations currently taking place within the psychedelic space to raise awareness of how psychedelic medicine could transform mental health treatment. The campaign also aims to highlight the potential psychedelic medicine has to help with a range of mental health conditions including depression, addiction, anxiety, PTSD, abuse disorders, OCD and address the stigma surrounding this type of treatment.

Read it on July 22nd in New Scientist magazine and on healthawareness.co.uk.

Additional Resources

A draft reference assembly of the Psilocybe cubensis genomeA whole genome atlas of 81 Psilocybe genomes as a resource for psilocybin production.Fungi video