Somehow, for reasons that are still unclear, the natural world gave rise to tiny mushrooms teeming with the psychoactive compound psilocybin. Even more astonishingly, the ability to produce this particular psychedelic didn’t evolve just once - it emerged at least twice independently. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic substance that profoundly alters consciousness and perception. While it can be used as a recreational (and illicit) drug to induce powerful trips, recent years have shown it also holds great promise in medicine, emerging as a potential treatment for therapy-resistant depression and other mental health conditions.

The chemical is most famously produced by aro

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