Agarikon Mushroom - Tree Fungus With Medicinal Aspirations-00-6416

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Interviewed on NPR, world leading medicinal mushroom specialist Paul Stamets relates how he came to discover the healing properties of agarikon, an increasingly rare wood conk that has all but vanished from Europe and now grows almost exclusively in the old growth rainforests of the northwestern United States.

Stamets knew that fungi (mushrooms) were more closely related to humans than to plants and therefore susceptible to many of the same pathogens (bacteria, molds, viruses). And yet the perennial agarikon mushroom managed to remain disease free in the dripping wet rainforests for up to 50 years without decaying from rot, mold, or bacteria. So therefore it followed, he figured, that it must possess a powerful immune system full of antibiotic compounds that might benefit people.

Stamets describes the agarikon conk as looking like a bee hive when viewed from the ground. Remember, they grow on the trunks of ancient tree giants, sometimes high up. (Use the agarikon-link on this page to view a picture of Paul Stamets holding an agarikon mushroom.) Please be aware that this is a threatened species and should be left ...
... alone in most cases. Just get out your digital camera if you are lucky enough to find a specimen. (Otherwise, no one may believe you.)

Using a proprietary extraction method on his organically cultivated agarikon, Stamets created an agarikon medicinal. He sent a sample of it to the Defense Department for testing within the BIO Shield Program, at a top security lab facility in Ft. Dietrich, Maryland. The BIO Shield Program is dedicated to finding remedies for use against bioterrorism threats and potential biological warfare agents, such as anthrax or smallpox.

Reportedly, tens of thousands of natural as well as manmade remedies are tested through the BIO Shield Program. According to drug discovery supervisor John Seacrest, Paul Stamets agarikon extract scored one of the rare hits against viruses related to smallpox. In other words, it effectively inhibited smallpox related viruses under lab conditions.

Paul Stamets has since applied for a patent on a mushroom-based anti-viral drug. Boston investor John Norris is one of his financial backers. Mr. Norris believes in the project due in part to the fact that some individuals simply are not willing or not able to be vaccinated against smallpox or other potential biological warfare agents.

It's also worth mentioning that Mr. Norris is a former second in command in the FDA hierarchy, and he believes that through his joint venture with Paul Stamets, they could soon be selling several hundred million doses of the Stamets agarikon extract to the armies of the United States, U.K., and Germany.

That may still be a few years into the future, though. Paul Stamets new mushroom related anti-viral medicine first has to stand up to exhaustive testing, and then eventually be approved for release by the FDA.

Note: This article is intended to provide entertainment and information only. Do not use this or any other herbal or mushroom-based product for medicinal purposes unless advised by a licensed medical doctor.

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