United Nations General Assembly’s AUDACITY 100 Disruptors Summit
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From food with love to the strongest mycelian network on the planet. This has been a dream of mine in the making for a decade. Paul Stamets is brought on stage as one of the keynotes before closing with a special person from the Bay Area.
Thank you very much. It's an honor to be here and this is a culmination of literally decades of work. Paradigm shifting scalable solution for viral pandemics. We've entered into a period of constant viral storms due to concentration of animals including people as they allow these vectors to spread. All habitats are infused with mycelium. When started talking about mycelium 40 years ago, people didn't know. Now most everybody knows what mycelium is. Mushrooms that form from mycelium are the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Mycelium is 99% of the life cycle with most mushrooms. Mushrooms are a portal into a vast mycelial network, literally underneath your feet, up to 8 miles per cubic inch, 400 miles under every footstep. They permeate all habitats. They create quorums and guilds of cooperating microorganisms that create sustainable food chains and healthy ecosystems. Mycelium over 4 days grows exponentially. This is highly scalable. This is a fermentation technology. Take a small fragment and grow up to 10 million pounds of mycelium in 4 to 6 months.
Journey started when Dr. Frank Piraino, a virologist, at the University of Wisconsin Medical School asked to find the gypsy mushroom at age 22. Sent him 20 to 30 pounds of this mycelial mushroom that grows in old growth forest. He discovered a novel antiviral drug called RC-183. From Frank Piraino's stimulation of interest, see the consequences of a kind elder who adopted a friendship with a young man and collaborated.
Published in the Herbogram a synopsis of all articles ever published on antiviral drugs or properties from mushrooms: a whopping half a page long. Virtually nothing in the scientific literature. After 9/11, a physician virologist saw the article mentioning Frank Piraino's research. The BioShield program contacted in 2004. This is a BARDA DARPA NIH USAMRIID project. Submitted 2,392 samples and tests conducted. Shotgunned because had a vast culture library. Thank you to the US government, Department of Defense, George Bush and Dick Cheney who funded the BioShield program. Hit the home run. Google 'Stamets smallpox National Public Radio'. More than two million samples submitted to the BioShield program. Natural product from one mushroom, Agarikon, was in the top 10 active against pox viruses and then H5N1. Virologists know selectivity indexes: when greater than 10 it's active. Agarikon extract was more than 200 times. Way more than most antiviral drugs currently. This was all in vitro work, couldn't do a clinical study.
I'm a beekeeper. Had bees on property and was growing mushrooms. One day in July, noticed bees sipping little droplets from mycelium. They spread the wood and saw a continuous convoy of bees to mushroom patch for more than 40 days. Noted this, put it in a book, forgot about it. Then heard about colony collapse, which has accelerated. This past year, 75 to 100% of beehives lost. One bee pollinates a thousand flowers in a day. Used to fly for 10 days, now fly for 4. Commercial beekeeper with 500 hives has nothing to help almond industry, apples, cherries—all foods dependent on pollination. Bee apocalypse. Viral pandemic of extraordinary severity threatening food chains, economy, agricultural economies. Viruses don't care about borders.
Deformed wing virus is the worst virus. Mite resistant mites are the vector spreading it. Honey bee with virus goes to flower, bumblebees visit, get infected. Spreading from domesticated to wild bees, all over the world. No continent immune. Bumblebees wings become very deformed, can't fly. Apis mellifera honeybee the same. Deformed wing virus is number one virus decimating beehives worldwide.
Pursued this. Lead author with colleagues at USDA and Washington State University. Published in Nature Scientific Reports. Reduced viruses of deformed wing virus with extract of two polypore mushrooms, Amadou and Reishi 879 to 1 with one treatment of 1% into sugar water that beehives feed. Extraordinary result. Jay Evans, PhD virologist from USDA, stated this is the most significant results he's ever seen. Published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Idea from BioShield program translational medicine went to bees with great success. Extracts extend longevity of bees. Bees with just sugar syrup, 20 would die in this period. Defeated deformed wing virus and extended longevity so bees could pollinate flowers. Phenomenal discovery. Highly scalable. Anyone can do in any country. Countries here have vested interest in agro-economies. Vector Institute in Russia discovered something discovered 4 years earlier with BioShield program with old growth mushroom Agarikon that reduces smallpox and H5N1 bird flu. Ahead of Russians by 4 or 5 years.
H5N1 spreading all over the world again. Infected cows. Jumps between animal species. Next viral pandemic on near event horizon. Virologists worked with for over 20 years: thought H5N1 would come but COVID came instead. Very close to H5N1 pandemic. Cows, sea lions, birds have it. Migrations occurring now. Many patient zeros across world. They'll co-incubate flu viruses with bird flu. Horizontal gene transfer, dock on receptors in lungs: pandemic that makes COVID look like child's play.
Results of two clinical studies, clinicaltrials.gov, with University of California San Diego, University of California Los Angeles. Shout out to Gordon Sachs, MD PhD; Andrew Schlubof, MD; Christine Smith, and other colleagues. Long struggle, funded by donations from philanthropists interested in integrated medicine.
Mushroom focused on: Agarikon because of BioShield program. Perennial polypore, can grow up to 120 years. Take tissue cultures, do not collect because endangered. Grows in old growth forest sky islands in Europe, Washington, Oregon, Northern California. Take small piece of tissue, put in laboratories, grow up, make extracts. Highly scalable, exponential expansion of mycelial mass, grow tons. Largest strain library of Agarikon in world: 118 strains. One time out of 50 going into old growth forest find one. Represents hundreds of years of exploration. Cryopreserve in liquid nitrogen ampules. Whole genome sequencing 118 strains. Use AI and genomics to find gene expressions. Not an antiviral drug. Bioassay fractionation to find isolated molecule fractionates to inactivity. Entourage effect activating endogenous immune system, cascade of immunomodulatory responses without cytokine storm.
History lesson: Mary Hunt's strain of Penicillium chrysogenum allowed industrialization of penicillin, produced 200 times more than Alexander Fleming's. Microdiversity biodiversity of fungi important. Searching for super strain in library of 118 strains, will find Mary Hunt super strain. Got lucky: chose one strain of Agarikon and Turkey Tail, most well-studied medicinal mushroom.
Submitted under peer review at renowned medical journal: polypore mushroom as adjunct for COVID-19 infection, randomized clinical trial placebo-controlled. Grow mycelium on rice (rice is placebo). For vaccinated people recruited as getting vaccinations.
10 most common adverse effects associated with vaccines: muscle aches, headaches, etc. People without Agarikon and Turkey Tail (black line) resolved in 3 days. People with reduced adverse effects. Day 2-3 feel like hit by truck, miss school/work, not productive. 30% people don't get vaccines due to hesitancy from adverse effects. JAMA concerned about cytokine storm. Showed upregulate immunity without inflammation. Surprisingly, 6 months later more than twice the reservoir of antibodies in Agarikon Turkey Tail cohort than vaccine alone. Extended immunological benefit.
Showing for first time: non-vaccinated individuals diagnosed with COVID 24 to 96 hours after getting sick. Substantial reduction in sore throat (like eating razor blades), stuffy/runny nose, phlegm, sneezing (spreads virus), headaches, muscle aches. Without vaccine. Hypothetically, Agarikon and Turkey Tail upregulates endogenous immune system, higher state of readiness, customized responses, entourage effect activating multiple pathways immunologically.
Six primary symptoms of COVID-19 infection reduced. H5N1 has six primary symptoms/functions, only difference lack of loss of smell/taste.
Paradigm shifting scalable discovery to mitigate zoonotic viral pandemics from bees to birds to pigs to cows to people, dependent on microdiversity of ecosystems cherished. Agarikon grows only in old growth forest, on endangered red list of extinction in Europe. Lifelong journey to this moment. Audacious positive disruption to help conventional medicine, whether vaccinated or not, people will benefit. Thank you very much. [Applause] [Music]
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