Please consider donating to fund my research. Donations can be made to the Natural History Museum of Utah or the University of Utah Foundation. 100% of your donation will directly support research.
Want to donate to a specific project? Here are current projects that are in need of financial support but that are unlikely to attract traditional funding (especially now…).
- Genome sequencing of psychedelic mushrooms
- We have on hand the most diverse set of Psilocybe mushroom species, which has enabled us to generate whole genomes to revise the Psilocybe phylogeny and discover previously unknown genetic patterns of psilocybin biosynthesis. This work was supported by a generous donation from Fungi Perfecti. However, this work is incomplete. We have many additional species that need sequencing, including many type specimens that will allow the accurate application of names. We are looking to raise $20,000 in support of this project. Every penny will go to reagents and consumables for DNA extraction, DNA sequencing, and hiring an undergraduate student technician to perform the work.
- Fieldwork to discover new species of psychedelic mushrooms
- New species of psychedelic mushrooms are reported regularly, including this new discovery we made with colleagues in Africa that has profound implications for the origin of the iconic “magic mushroom” species Psilocybe cubensis. My lab has extensive experience conducting fieldwork all over the world in search of new species of fungi, from mountains in Borneo to the jungles of Cameroon, but funding is typically piecemeal and inadequate for anything but short, opportunistic expeditions. Our fieldwork is hindered by this lack of sustained, sufficient support. $10,000 a year would go a long way to enabling us to do this critical work. Feeling adventurous? Consider sponsoring an entire expedition and join us! We are currently targeting our expeditions to Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, and Nepal.
- Population genetics of Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe semilanceata, and Psilocybe cyanescens.
- Every wonder where these species originated and how they spread around the world? We have! Answers to these questions can be achieved with population genetic datasets. We have globally representative, wild-collected samples for these species, we just need funding to sequence them. We estimate each species will cost $5000 in reagents, consumables, and sequencing. You can pick your favorite, or go for a Hail Mary and do them all for $15,000!
- Discovering the chemical basis of Lilliputian hallucinations from eating bolete mushrooms
- Yes, you read that correctly. There are regular reports of hallucinating tiny people after eating raw or undercooked boletes in Yunnan, China. Janet Yellen even ate them (though fully cooked). My PhD student, Colin Domnauer, has been working on figuring out this mystery and has made great progress, even without dedicated funding for it. This discovery could be revolutionary, especially considering how promising another hallucinogenic mushroom compound is as a therapy for a wide range of mental illnesses. Colin needs support so that he can continue to pursue this important and fascinating project. We are seeking $100,000 over the next two years. This would fund Colin at 100% for the last two years of his PhD and provide him with the necessary funds to travel for fieldwork, sequence genomes, and perform chemical and pharmacology assays to crack the code.
- Did psilocybin evolve as a defense against slugs and snails?
- Our research suggests that psilocybin first emerged at the same time slugs and snails came onto land and diversified. Many terrestrial slugs are voracious eaters of mushrooms and the ubiquitous mushroom aroma (1-octen-3-ol) is a slug antifeedant. Could psilocybin protect these fungi against slugs? We want to test this hypothesis with a food choice experiment with mushroom-feeding slugs. We currently have wild-collected Leopard slugs (Limax maximus), but unfortunately the pure chemicals are prohibitively expensive. To make up enough psilocybin-laced food to do one experiment with only three slugs (bare minimum), we would need $16,000 of pure psilocybin (that’s 300 mg to make up 300 mL of 1 mg/mL food, for 100 mL for each of three slugs) and $3,840 of pure psilocin (same calculation as for psilocybin). That’s just for the minimum of three replicates each, and not including a third experimental condition of oligomerized psilocin, which may be the actual defensive weaponry. Ideally we could include oligomermized psilocin, so an additional $3,840 worth of psilocin. That’s $23,680 just in pure psilocybin and psilocin, for one experiment with three slugs for each experimental condition. No federal agency is likely to fund this experiment, especially now. Are you curious enough to find out the answer?
The Dentinger Lab 