快猫短视频

Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve鈥檚 movie adaptation of Frank Herbert鈥檚 1965 classic sci-fi novel Dune, is out in cinemas. For almost six decades, fans of the epic space saga have looked at it from many angles, from colonialism to religious fanaticism, but I was blown away to discover, on reading mycologist Paul Stamets鈥檚 book Mycelium Running, that 鈥渕uch of the premise of Dune [鈥�] came from his [Herbert鈥檚] perception of the fungal life cycle鈥�.

Let鈥檚 start with his language. When explaining the complex life cycle of sandworms, the gigantic beasts tunnelling underground on the arid planet of Arrakis, Herbert talks of a 鈥渉alf-plant鈥� and 鈥渉alf-animal鈥� stage exuding a substance with 鈥渇ungusoid鈥� properties. His wording makes it difficult not to think about fungi, which are neither animals nor plants 鈥� it was only in 1969 that scientists .

Meanwhile, the Fremen, the natives of Arrakis, call sandworms 鈥渕akers鈥�. Sandworms create 鈥渢he spice鈥� or 鈥渕elange鈥�, the highly coveted substance that enables interstellar travel. On our planet, there are few better 鈥渕akers鈥� than fungi. As much as moulds and wood-rotting mycelia consume and decompose, they are also the nexus of new life, recycling biological matter as they feed and grow, and regenerating ecosystems. 鈥淟ife improves the capacity of the environment to sustain life,鈥� muses Herbert鈥檚 planetologist Liet-Kynes when considering how to terraform Arrakis.

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Fungi were , growing on rocks, abrasing them into sand, and forming soil. Reading the novel again, it made me wonder: did Herbert have any of this in mind when writing Dune? He certainly had a keen interest in mushrooms; his son, Brian Herbert, writes in his biography of how the author would organise family mushroom hunts through the woods, 鈥渇illing plastic bags with delicacies鈥� and quoting 鈥淟atin names for the fungi he saw, edible and inedible鈥�.

Like sandworms, mushrooms erupt sporadically and suddenly from the ground, with recent studies finding that . When Paul and Jessica Atreides summon a sandworm in the desert, they face 鈥渁 giant, questing mouth [鈥�], a giant black hole with edges glistening in the moonlight.鈥� Some prey on small animals. If we were to imagine ourselves as minuscule beings, scrabbling in earth, we would soon encounter mycelium; these tentacle-like fungal threads known as hyphae might predate on us using their 鈥渕ouths鈥� at the tips (the 厂辫颈迟锄别苍办枚谤辫别谤, German for 鈥減ointed body鈥�), the active site where the fungus exudes enzymes to digest its food. And let鈥檚 not forget that scientists recently named a fungus after sandworms.

The plot of Dune revolves around 鈥渢he spice鈥�, the substance that allows tripping 鈥� both interstellar and psychedelic. In the real world, the metabolic power of fungi is harnessed to make chemicals, acids and enzymes that each of us uses every day; there are also fungal drugs, like antibiotics, alcohol and psilocybin. There are parallels in Dune, too, with magic mushrooms: the Fremen鈥檚 azure eyes caused by excessive consumption of 鈥渢he spice鈥�, and the Bene Gesserit鈥檚 drug rituals, are reminiscent of the bluish tints of a potent psychedelic mushroom (Psilocybe azurescens) and of sacred mushroom cults in Mesoamerica (brought to the attention of the West ).

It isn鈥檛 only in Dune that fungi escape sight. Think of J. R. R. Tolkien鈥檚 The Lord of the Rings: it was, in the end, Sam Gamgee who saved Middle-earth, bringing back to the devastated Shire some containing , as Merlin Sheldrake wrote in his book .

Noticing fungi doesn鈥檛 just give these stories an extra element. We should be on the lookout for fungi, both in fiction and in real life. These organisms play a crucial role in the ecosystem and are in dire need of protection 鈥� but only 0.4 per cent of them have been assessed for their conservation status, compared to 18 per cent of plants and 80.1 per cent of animals, according to a from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London. Arrakis depends on sandworms just as our world depends on fungi. It is as if Frank Herbert is showing, without telling, that life cannot exist without fungi. It is up to us to see, and to take action to protect something we have a dangerous tendency to overlook.

Corrado Nai () has a PhD in fungal ecology and is a member of JoNeF (), which aims to bring the protection of fungi to the attention of European policymakers