Fungi use a variety of approaches to tweak the biochemical dials that regulate their hosts’ behavior. Some use immunosuppressants to override the insects’ defensive responses. Two such compounds have found their way into mainstream medicine for these very reasons. Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressant drug that makes organ transplants possible. Myriocine has become the blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug fingolimod and was originally extracted from fungus-infested wasps that are eaten in parts of China as a nostrum for eternal youth.
