“Pharaoh’s Curse” Toxic Fungi Harnessed to Treat Leukemia
- Editor OGN Daily
- Jul 1
- 2 min read
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb was the biggest archaeological discovery ever seen, sparking a press frenzy and triggering a global bout of “Tut-mania”.
Howard Carter, the British archaeologist, discovered the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh on 4 November 1922, and entered the teenage king’s burial chamber with Lord Carnarvon the following February. Yet, within six weeks of the opening, Lord Carnarvon was dead, and there followed a series of mysterious deaths of people who had either worked on the excavation or had visited the tomb, triggering a slew of newspaper articles suggesting that they were victims of an ancient curse.
However, decades later, doctors speculated that fungal spores may have contributed to those deaths. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a new way to harness that fungus: using it to treat leukemia.
Detailing their findings in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the scientists isolated a new class of molecules from the toxic crop fungus Aspergillus flavus. After the chemicals were modified, the resulting compound showed “promising” cancer-killing properties that rivalled FDA-approved drugs when tested against leukemia cells, opening new frontiers for fungal medicines.
“Nature has given us this incredible pharmacy,” senior author Sherry Gao said in a press release. “It’s up to us to uncover its secrets. As engineers, we’re excited to keep exploring, learning from nature, and using that knowledge to design better solutions.”
Moving forward, the researchers hope one day move to human clinical trials. “Fungi gave us penicillin,” Gao said. “These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found.”
