The power of fungi
Tim Hayward takes a journey into the world of fungi. There\u2019s a global wave of interest in the potential uses of fungi right now - and businesses are catching on and playing their part.
Tim starts at the Fungarium in Kew Gardens, the world\u2019s biggest collection of dried fungal specimens, guided by collections curator Lee Davies. He then heads to a forest in Finland, where chief executive Eric Puro and lab manager Joette Crosier walk him through the setup at K\xe4\xe4p\xe4 Biotech - one of a new breed of fungally-focussed companies with big ambitions rooted in a passion for mushrooms and mycelium. Then he talks with Albert Garcia-Romeu, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Albert is part of a research team looking at the fungally-derived compound psilocybin - about which there\u2019s a huge amount of interest relating to its therapeutic potential.
Presenter: Tim Hayward\nProducer : Richard Ward.\nImage: Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) mushrooms being cultivated at K\xe4\xe4p\xe4 Mushrooms, Karjalohja, Finland. Used with permission.
Tim\u2019s three-part series about fungi, \u2018Fungi: The New Frontier\u2019, is available now on BBC Sounds.