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Psychedelic Mushrooms Are Getting Much, Much Stronger
Cultivators are turning to genetic sequencing and cellular-manipulation techniques to breed highly potent mushrooms—leaving some unprepared psychonauts in distress.
Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, one of the species most commonly consumed, are among the most heavily inbred due to the imperfect methods used by hobbyist cultivators, who have propagated them over the decades since the first spore prints returned from the Amazon in the early 1970s, courtesy of the McKenna brothers. But as the mushroom-growing scene steps out of the underground and professionalizes somewhat—even though psilocybin prohibition continues across most of the world—more and more mycologists are using informed breeding practices to enhance the fungi’s genetic integrity and improve potency, which can be a recessive trait and become lost within a lineage. Technological advancements have allowed for fungal cells to more easily be manipulated during breeding, and developments in chromatographic potency testing enables growers to dial in on what alteration methods result in stronger mushrooms, which can be sold to consumers at prices in excess of $10 per gram more.
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