Merlin Sheldrake

Penicillin, a compound that could defend fungi from bacterial infection, turned out to defend humans as well. This is not unusual: Although fungi have long been lumped together with plants, they are actually more closely related to animals

At a molecular level, fungi and humans are similar enough to benefit from many of the same biochemical innovations

Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways that we think, feel, and behave