The Tibetan people in the picture above are making thousands of dollars by selling caterpillars that have been infested with fungi. But why would a caterpillar fungus be worth so much?
These little creatures have anti-inflammatory properties and are being used all over the world for medicinal purposes. Patients who follow the tradition medicinal practices either chew the worm or brew it in a tea and drink it. But this isn't just some folk medicine; studies have been done and posted in the journal RNA. A chemical from this fungus called cordycepin is an anti-inflammatory. An inflammatory response is the bodies way of protecting itself, but in cases like with asthma the inflammation happens too quickly and severely. But cordycepin inhibits the inflammation process. Not only does it just stop the swelling, but it stops the swelling at a genetic cellular level.
It will be a while for any drug to come out officially and doctors are not recommending patients to ingest this fungus due to lack of knowledge about dosages and overdosing. Cornelia H. De Moor, the scientist of the study, advises people who are interested in this fungal anti-inflammatory to wait for medicine. With luck this fungus could lead to a new drug that can help battle cancer, asthma, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease.
National Geographic article on this topic:
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