Disease: cancer

Advanced Fungal Biotechnologies in Accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): What Do We Know and What Comes Next?

Fungi are remarkable organisms with tremendous untapped potential for solving global challenges. They can be engineered to produce life-saving medicines like antibiotics and cholesterol-lowering drugs, create nutritious food alternatives, clean up polluted environments, and help fight climate change. As we transition to more sustainable living practices, fungi represent a natural solution that has been used for centuries but is only now being fully appreciated through modern biotechnology.

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Harnessing the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of fungal secondary metabolites

Scientists have learned to use common baker’s yeast (S. cerevisiae) as a biological factory to produce valuable medicines and compounds that naturally come from fungi and mushrooms. By transferring the genetic instructions for making these compounds into yeast cells and improving them with genetic engineering, researchers can now produce therapeutically important substances like cancer-fighting drugs and antibiotics in large quantities. This approach is more practical and cost-effective than trying to extract these rare compounds directly from their native fungal sources or using other production methods.

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Bioactive Potential of Balkan Fomes fomentarius Strains: Novel Insights into Comparative Mycochemical Composition and Antioxidant, Anti-Acetylcholinesterase, and Antiproliferative Activities

This study examines three strains of Fomes fomentarius mushroom from the Balkan region, revealing they are rich sources of beneficial compounds including polyamines and phenolic compounds. These extracts demonstrated strong antioxidant properties and potential neuroprotective effects, suggesting they could help prevent diseases related to oxidative stress and aging. The research supports the traditional use of this mushroom in folk medicine and highlights its potential as a natural supplement for health promotion.

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Modulating the gut microbiota is involved in the effect of low-molecular-weight Glycyrrhiza polysaccharide on immune function

Researchers studied a natural compound from licorice called Glycyrrhiza polysaccharide (GP) to see if it could help restore immune function in mice weakened by chemotherapy. GP treatment improved intestinal health, boosted immune cells, and changed the gut bacteria composition to favor beneficial strains. The study shows that GP works partly by modifying which bacteria live in the gut, which then support the immune system. This research suggests GP could be useful as a natural supplement for strengthening immunity and treating intestinal inflammation.

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Fungal Drug Discovery for Chronic Disease: History, New Discoveries and New Approaches

This article examines how fungi have provided humanity with some of the most important medicines ever created, including penicillin, drugs that prevent organ rejection, and cholesterol-lowering statins. Many of these fungal compounds work as medicines because they target processes that are similar in both fungi and humans, helping them survive competition with other fungi while coincidentally treating human diseases. New researchers are now using modern genetic tools to discover additional fungal medicines, with several promising candidates currently being tested in clinical trials for cancer, depression, and other chronic diseases.

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Insights into the evolution and mechanisms of response to heat stress by whole genome sequencing and comparative proteomics analysis of the domesticated edible mushroom Lepista sordida

Researchers sequenced the complete genome of Lepista sordida, a delicious edible mushroom valued for its health benefits, and studied how this mushroom responds to heat stress at the molecular level. Using advanced analysis techniques, they identified key proteins and signaling pathways that help the mushroom survive high temperatures. These findings can help farmers develop better-performing strains that are more resistant to heat, improving mushroom production.

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A Review on Remediation Technology and the Remediation Evaluation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soils

Heavy metals from industrial activities, mining, and vehicle emissions contaminate agricultural soils and pose health risks to humans through the food chain. This review summarizes different methods to clean contaminated soils, ranging from physical removal to using plants and microorganisms to absorb metals. The most promising approaches combine multiple techniques and use biological methods like planting metal-accumulating plants, which are cheaper and less damaging to soil ecology than traditional chemical or thermal treatments.

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Investigating the Knowledge of Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Synbiotics That May Help to Improve the Gut-Organ Axis Function in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

This study examined what middle-aged and older adults know about probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics—special food components that can improve gut health. Researchers found that many people had little knowledge about these products, even though they may help with various health conditions including heart disease and mental health. After giving people an educational information sheet about gut biotics, their knowledge significantly improved, suggesting that simple education can help people make better choices about their digestive health.

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Emerging paradigms for target discovery of traditional medicines: A genome-wide pan-GPCR perspective

Traditional medicines from plants, animals, and fungi contain chemical compounds that can interact with specific proteins in our cells called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These receptors control many important body functions and are targeted by about one-third of all FDA-approved medications. This review explains how scientists are discovering new therapeutic compounds from traditional medicines by systematically screening them against the complete library of human GPCRs, using advanced techniques to identify which compounds bind to which receptors. Famous examples include morphine from poppies for pain relief and compounds from ginseng that help regulate blood sugar.

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Cultivation and mycelium production from spore suspensions of desert truffles: prospective use as inoculum for host plants in arid zones

Desert truffles are valuable edible fungi that grow in arid regions and have health benefits. This research successfully grew two desert truffle species (Terfezia boudieri and Tirmania nivea) in laboratory conditions using standard culture media. The study found that potato dextrose agar was the best medium for rapid growth, while both media supported good mycelial development. This breakthrough could enable large-scale production of truffle inoculum for reforestation programs in Morocco’s degraded desert areas.

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