In an interview on National Public Radio, world-renown medicinal mushroom expert Paul Stamets recounts his discovery of the healing properties of agarikon, a mushroom growing on 500-year-old trees in the old growth rainforests of the northwestern United States.

Knowing that mushrooms are susceptible to many of the same microbes as humans, how could it be, he asked himself, that this perennial wood conk managed to stay healthy for 50 years in the dripping wet rain forest without rotting? It must have a powerful immune system, he concluded, with potentially powerful medicinal compounds that could benefit humans.

To find agarikon in the wild, look for something reminiscent of a beehive on the ancient tree trunks of an old-growth forest. (You may view a picture of agarikon through the agarikon-link on this page.) Please keep in mind that agarikon is a rare and threatened species. Do not harvest it unless there’s a very good reason for doing so. But by all means, bring out your digital camera.

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.

Several tens of thousands of natural and synthetic “medicines” have been tested within the Bio Shield Program. According to John Seacrest, drug discovery supervisor within BIO Shield, the agarikon extract submitted by Paul Stamets was one of only a few agents that tested positive against viruses related to smallpox. While smallpox virus itself is not available for testing (due to it being supposedly extinct and all), the agarikon extract proved effective in inhibiting closely related viruses (presumably cowpox).

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.

As a former second at the FDA, John Norris should know enough about the field of medicine. And obviously, his belief in Paul Stamets agarikon extract is strong enough to put his money where his mouth is. His goal is that they may someday sell this agarikon extract for the defense stock-piles of NATO armies, with doses numbering in the hundreds of millions.

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: The above article is intended for informational purposes only. Agarikon has not been approved by the FDA for use as a medicinal. Never use any herbal or mushroom-product for medicinal purposes unless advice to do so by a licensed medical practitioner.

Reference: NPR Morning Edition, Smallpox Defense May Be Found in Mushrooms by Tom Banse, August 4, 2005.