Denmark-based biology company Octarine began producing psilocybin via a brewer’s yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. While producing less than previous strains of bacteria and yeast this has proven to be the cheapest method. While losing about half of the production to psilocin conversion they are trying to work through those issues. They believe that the yeast processes are too similar to our stomach digestion and converting the psilocybin to psilocin.
While still useful and may have a higher binding rate to Serotonin receptors, they are trying to make more psilocybin as that’s what they are testing. The reason for all of this is to make psilocybin more available to scientists and healthcare researchers. Traditionally, Psilocybe mushrooms are grown from spores, but this process is costly and labor-intensive under good practice methods. This is a step for companies to be able to collect more data and run more tests at a cheaper rate.