12 Jul 2025

Using toxic fungus to fight cancer

From Saturday Morning, 7:43 am on 12 July 2025
Dr Sherry Gao.

Dr Sherry Gao. Photo: Supplied / Dr Sherry Gao

Toxic fungus has been in the headlines this week - Australian woman Erin Patterson was found guilty of murdering her three in-laws by poisoning them with death cap mushrooms.

But there's a toxic fungus that researchers have been able to use to fight cancer. The same mould that has been linked to deaths, in the excavations of ancient tombs - has the capability of fighting leukemia cells.

Dr Sherry Gao, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes about the significance of this discovery.

Illustration of cancer cells

Photo: 123rf

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