Today, you’ll learn about mushrooms that can eat asteroids to make space soil, how our thoughts affect us as we microdose psychedelics, and efforts to 3D print organs like kidneys and lungs!
Today, you’ll learn about mushrooms that can eat asteroids to make space soil, how our thoughts affect us as we microdose psychedelics, and efforts to 3D print organs like kidneys and lungs!
Hungry mushrooms.
Far out thoughts.
A different kind of printer.
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Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/asteroid-eating-fungi-psychedelicmaybe-printing-organs
[SFX: INTRO MUSIC/WHOOSH]
NATE: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Discovery. Time flies when you’re learnin’ super cool stuff. I’m Nate.
CALLI: And I’m Calli. If you’re dropping in for the first time, welcome to Curiosity, where we aim to blow your mind by helping you to grow your mind. If you’re a loyal listener, welcome back!
NATE: Today, you’ll learn about mushrooms that can eat asteroids to make space soil, how our thoughts affect us as we microdose psychedelics, and efforts to 3D print organs like kidneys and lungs!
CALLI: Without further ado, let’s satisfy some curiosity!
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Calli, I know you’ve always loved mushrooms, they look incredible, they break down organisms and molecules, and get this…they soon might help us out in space.
CALLI: Fungi are great at breaking down complex molecules! Some are strong enough to break down rocks. Oyster mushrooms can even digest petroleum from contaminated soil. But what are we hoping they can do for us in space?
NATE: Researchers think that mushrooms may help us create soil for missions deep into space. One of the biggest issues with long term space missions is creating a viable food source. When missions get long enough, like to Mars and beyond, it's impossible to bring enough packaged foods for the whole trip.
CALLI: So they’re looking for a way to create a continuous food supply, without taking up a bunch of room.
NATE: Exactly! We’ve tried growing crops hydroponically, when they live in water instead of soil, but that requires a constant resupply of Earthly nutrients. It quickly becomes a big hassle. But if we could create another way to consistently replenish these nutrients, the whole system could work more efficiently.
CALLI: And researchers think mushrooms could do that?
NATE: A team of researchers from NASA and the company, Fungi Perfecti, tested multiple different mushrooms and their ability to digest space material. They fed 15 species simulated asteroid regolith, basically space rock, and they quickly found the one that was best at breaking it down into nutrient-filled soil: oyster mushrooms.
CALLI: So the same mushroom that was breaking down rocks and oil on earth!
NATE: Yep! The oyster mushrooms were able to successfully grow and feed on the regolith, breaking down the tough asteroid hydrocarbons into simpler nutrients that other plants could use to grow. The team was confident they could use this new “soil” to grow plants within one to three years.
CALLI: Oh that’s incredible! Then you could have a rich biodiverse system where plants grow and die, and mushrooms consume them to create even more great soil. That is so cool!
NATE: And there are other recycling benefits to the soil strategy beyond just dead plants! Astronauts could compost their own human waste. And asteroid mining leftovers could provide regolith to start and resupply the process when needed.
CALLI: I love how as complex as our science gets, traveling deep into space, sometimes you just need some good dirt.
NATE: Well, soil-forming isn’t the only way mushrooms might help us in space. They’re also being researched as habitat builders through myco-architecture.
CALLI: Are we building mushroom homes?
NATE: We may be able to grow habitats on the moon or Mars from fungi mycelia. Mycelia are the root-like threads that make up most of the underground structure of a fungus. The idea is to use them to grow part of a three-layered dome habitat. The top layer would be made of ice, to protect us from radiation from the sun, the second layer would contain cyanobacteria that through photosynthesis could create oxygen for human inhabitants, while the mycelia could give the whole thing structure. This self-sustaining habitat could protect us, house us and make oxygen!
CALLI: This sounds complex though, have we had any success in building something like this yet?
NATE: We’re still a long ways away from growing full scale usable habitats but the research is promising so far. And that's not where mushroom benefits end! Mycelia could also be used for water filtration and humidity regulation. Researchers are continuing to look into other creative ways to use these powerful organisms.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
CALLI: Nate, have you ever heard of microdosing?
NATE: Is that when you take a psychedelic drug like LSD or psilocybin mushrooms in a small
dose in the hopes that it sparks your creativity, without giving you a strong visual or sensory “trip?”
CALLI: Exactly, and even though some pretty prominent creative people swear by it, saying it brings inspiration and improves brain power, new research suggests the effects might all be a placebo.
NATE: So those creatives thought the microdosing was changing how their brains worked?
CALLI: Right, the placebo effect is pretty powerful. When researchers test a new drug, one group receives the actual drug, and one receives a placebo that shouldn't have any effects. If the placebo group does see any of the effects that the drug is supposed to have, then the effect of the drug might be more psychological than physical. And researchers wondered just how much the supposed benefits of microdosing came from the user’s own thoughts.
NATE: But weren’t innovative people like Steve Jobs proponents of microdosing? I know it's just anecdotal evidence, but it's hard to compete with that.
CALLI: There are a lot of anecdotal stories about it being a big part of breakthroughs like the discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure. But this study set out to determine whether the science backed these stories up. It was the largest placebo-controlled test on psychedelics ever, with more than a hundred and ninety subjects.
NATE: How did it work with so many people?
CALLI: Each subject prepared their own gel capsules with either a low dose of LSD or a placebo. They then mixed up the capsules so they didn’t know which was which. But all of the participants had microdosed previously in their lives.
NATE: But how would researchers know who took the microdoses and who took placebos?
CALLI: The pills had barcodes that subjects scanned to send data back to the research team. The subjects then completed surveys after taking the pill to note any effects they felt. They also completed online cognitive tests. The trial ran for four weeks and the team saw pretty interesting results.
NATE: Did performance worsen?
CALLI: Actually the researchers noticed a psychological improvement… in both groups.
NATE: So that has to mean it's just a placebo effect, right?
CALLI: The results really seemed to suggest that the benefits of microdosing might come from their belief that it was helping, rather than from the psychedelics themselves.
NATE: But can we trust these at-home trials? Were there any issues?
CALLI: It definitely had some shortcomings. The researchers believe this style of DIY testing could more accurately reflect the real world. But they’ve also been upfront about the limitations of the test - including the fact that subjects sourced their own drugs which could have created variation in potency. And some researchers wondered if more experienced microdosers would be able to tell if they had taken a placebo.
NATE: So it’s an interesting result, but probably worth looking further into?
CALLI: That would be the safest bet. The biggest benefit of this type of study is that it’s a very cost-effective way to start research. It could be a great testing method for looking at other physical-psychological questions like those that surround fad diets and CBD use.
NATE: Sounds like we can say for sure though, the placebo effect is powerful.
CALLI: It's amazing what the brain can do, whether on psychedelics, or not.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Calli, I know how much you love 3D printers and how far they’ve come in the last few years. I mean now they can print materials like concrete, clay, and even chocolate. But I’ve got some awesome news: in less than a decade we might be able to 3D print human organs.
CALLI: Organs? That sounds like a huge challenge. What's the benefit of printing them? It has to be easier to get them from donors.
NATE: Well, in some ways that might be true. But most people that need an organ in America have to be transferred onto a national waiting list and hope for a donor organ from someone with a matching blood type. Right now, there are over 105,000 people, many of them children, on the national transplant waiting list. And we just don’t have that many organs. Living donors provide 6,000 or so organs each year, and each year about 8,000 deceased donors provide 3.5 organs each on average. But every single day, 17 Americans die waiting for an organ match.
CALLI: Oh that’s awful. So are researchers hoping printing organs could help fill the gap?
NATE: Exactly! The process is called “organ bioprinting.” It assembles layers of multiple cell types and other biomaterials to create artificial organs that would imitate their natural counterparts. Researchers think we’re still about a decade away from being able to do this successfully, but because of the demand for organs, and the dire consequences of not meeting that demand, it's a top priority.
CALLI: So how does the process work?
NATE: First, doctors take a small biopsy of a patient’s own organ tissue. They don’t need much, just about half the size of a postage stamp. Then they take that sample, and separate it into its different types of specialized cells. They take these separated cells, and put each group into its own stainless steel incubator that can mimic the conditions of the human body. They then feed these cells about every 24 hours with their own specific mix of nutrients called “media.” Under these conditions, the cells actually grow and multiply outside of the body.
CALLI: Ok so they have piles of cells, but that is NOT an organ, isn’t it just clumps of cells?
NATE: Right. They take each of these groups of cells and mix it with a glue-like gel called Bio-Ink. They can then take this mixture of living cells and gooey stuff, and put them in a printer that can build the material up layer by layer, adding in layers of different types of cells, just like your at-home printer does.
CALLI: Yeah but you’re not making trinkets with this thing, it has to take forever.
NATE: That all depends on a few factors, like what organ is being printed and how many printheads are needed for the process. But going from biopsy to printing, meaning all that time for growing the cells and preparing the printer, usually takes about 4-6 weeks, but actually printing the organ? That only takes a few hours.
CALLI: A few hours! To print an organ?! I mean the 4-6 weeks is wildly impressive, but actually making the organ in a matter of hours? That is so freaking cool, and way faster than waiting for a donor, and you know you’ll be a match! Are there any downsides?
NATE: Well, for one, we still have a lot to do to figure it out. But once a bioprinted organ is placed into a patient, it will naturally degrade over time. But that's by design. Over time, the body replaces the Bio-Ink glue with its own tissues to hold the organ together, and in place.
CALLI: I mean that’s incredible, but it still seems so difficult. How do we know that this would even work?
NATE: Well back in 2006, this same group of scientists worked by hand to grow human bladders in the lab! They saved the lives of three children.
CALLI: Oh that’s hopeful! But, crucially, how much will this 3D printing cost?
NATE: Surprisingly, compared to what we have now, it could be very affordable. Look at it like this: the costs associated with organ failures are very high, not only for patients but for the hospitals. A year of dialysis, for instance, is over a quarter million dollars. The average kidney transplant in 2020 was almost $450,000. While it won’t be cheap, printing organs could cost far less, and be more accessible.
CALLI: Well then let's hope the research keeps going well. This could make a huge difference in a lot of lives.
[SFX: WHOOSH]
NATE: Let’s recap what we learned today to wrap up.
CALLI: On future space missions, astronauts may eat food grown in soil made from asteroids, all thanks to one humble organism: the mushroom. The system relies on mushrooms’ ability to break down hydrocarbons into simpler molecules that plants can use as nutrients. But this is just the start of using mushrooms to improve life in space; future colonization efforts may even include shelters made from fungi.
NATE: A recent study showed that the effects of micro dosing psychedelics may be all in our head. While the study has some control issues, its findings are a step towards understanding the strength of our expectations, small doses of drugs, and how we might use either to boost our creativity.
CALLI: Affordable organ transplants might be in our near future. Researchers are working to use 3D printers and cells taken from our own body, to recreate entire human organs in the lab.