Student Discovers Long-Awaited Mystery Fungus Sought By LSD's Inventor

LSD "is used to treat conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction," notes Science Daily. And now a microbiology student "has found a long sought-after fungus that produces effects similar to the semisynthetic drug..." Morning glory plants live in symbiosis with fungi that produce the same ergot alkaloids the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann modified when he invented LSD in the late 1930s. Hofmann hypothesized that a fungus in morning glories produced alkaloids similar to those in LSD, but the species remained a mystery... The researchers dubbed the fungus "Periglandula clandestina" for its ability to have eluded investigators for decades. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Jun 7, 2025 - 21:00

Student Discovers Long-Awaited Mystery Fungus Sought By LSD's Inventor

LSD "is used to treat conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction," notes Science Daily. And now a microbiology student "has found a long sought-after fungus that produces effects similar to the semisynthetic drug..." Morning glory plants live in symbiosis with fungi that produce the same ergot alkaloids the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann modified when he invented LSD in the late 1930s. Hofmann hypothesized that a fungus in morning glories produced alkaloids similar to those in LSD, but the species remained a mystery... The researchers dubbed the fungus "Periglandula clandestina" for its ability to have eluded investigators for decades.