Fungi
topic on 3 shows · 7 statements across 3 episodes
American Optimist 
Catalyst 
the a16z Podcast
7 statements about Fungi, every show
Kann: Underground fungal networks hold a 13-gigaton carbon sequestration pool
“There is an underground network of fungi that partner with plants that results in a, about a 13 gigaton pool of carbon sequestration underground. That's equivalent to about 36% of the annual emissions from fossil fuels in the world.”
Hillenmeyer: Fungi and humans are surprisingly closely related evolutionary relatives
“Compared to bacteria. There's the tree of life. There's bacteria, viruses way over here. Fungi and humans are actually pretty closely related, surprisingly.”
Lonsdale: Fungal defense compounds can likely target most mechanisms in human cells
“And so there's like thousands of types of things inside of fungi, and a lot of those echo the things and types of our cells, and so because they learn to fight each other in different ways, they can probably target most things in our cells as well.”
Hillenmeyer: Fungi share about 6,000 genes with humans
“So humans have about 20,000 genes we know now from the Human Genome Project. Fungi have about 6000 that are the same in humans, are very similar.”
Hillenmeyer: Only 0.1% of estimated fungal species have been sequenced
“So scientists estimate there's about five million species of fungi on the planet, and only 5000 have been sequenced.”
Hillenmeyer: 99.9% of wild fungi cannot be cultured in laboratories
“So most of these fungi won't grow well in laboratories. That's part of why only the .1% has really been worked on. The 99.9% don't really grow well in the lab.”
Crowley: Soylent is investing in fungi as the next sustainable protein source
“The next big thing is fungi is actually mushroom. We're putting a lot of research and investment dollars into, and partnerships in terms of how do we actually find that next sustainable protein source so that we can actually, again, have less impact on the env…”