🫠 This Week in Psychedelics

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that respects microbes. It’s the only culture some people have. 😐

Here’s what we got this week.

• Psilocybin improves Parkinson’s disease 🧠

• Gene-edited bacteria pump out psilocybin 🦠

• Employers can cover mushroom journeys now 🤝

• Design your own psychedelic protocol 📝

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The most vital psychedelic gathering on Earth is back and better than ever.

That’s right. MAPS is bringing Psychedelic Science to Denver this June.

With 10+ stages, hundreds of speakers, and an entire city block of exhibitors, PS2025 promises five days of discovery, education, networking and experiences.

From enthusiasts to facilitators to investors, everyone building the future of medicine will be there. 

Rates increase soon. (You better believe Cyclists get an extra discount.)

Take 15% off any ticket with code TRIDAY25.

MICRODOSES

🔬 Research

Know thyself: Psychedelic users feel a greater connection to self, which is itself linked to creativity and originality.
Meet JRT: UC Davis scientists developed a new LSD analog that could treat schizophrenia.
Straight to the vein: The first IV-administered psychedelic trial for binge eating disorder will kick off this year.
Mind bending: Among sporadic psychedelic users, more lifetime use predicts increased cognitive flexibility.
Choose your own adventure: The next era of psychedelics may be precision-designed states of consciousness.

🏛️ Policy

The new New Mexico: Now that the Medical Psilocybin Act has passed, what’s next for New Mexico?
Bait and switch: Arizona lawmakers gutted its psilocybin services bill and replaced it with a Compass Pathways-friendly rescheduling bill.
Testing the waters: Hawaii’s House approved a bill to create a two-year psychedelic research pilot program.
No defectors: A Missouri committee unanimously approved a bill to allow qualifying military vets to access lab-tested psilocybin.
Keep it on the DL: Maine lawmakers advanced a bill that would legalize low-level possession of psilocybin.

📈 Business

Doubling down: Beckley Psytech investors plan to put another $20 million into the company at a $200 million pre-money valuation.
Microfinance: Clinical microdosing company, MindBio Therapeutics, is raising $170k and settling $1.76 million in debt.
Version control: Clearmind Medicine, which recently launched its first human trial at Johns Hopkins, has filed a patent application for new psychedelic “3.0 compounds.”
Revolving door: A former US Senator and psychedelics advocate has been hired by a law firm that represents MindMed.
Business trips: Psychedelic retreats are the new corporate offsite.

🫠 Just for fun

Single and ready to tingle: Would you try speed dating on a microdose of mushrooms?
Half a billion connections: For the first time, scientists have mapped the vision centers of a mouse brain.
Knew it: Microsoft admits AI is just Clippy on shrooms.
Meme of the week: When you realize how much unconditional love is available to you…

THE PEAK EXPERIENCE

Movement in the right direction

Psychedelic advocates have been talking up mushrooms for neurodegeneration forever.

But science moves at the speed of IRB approvals, not Reddit threads. Well now, the research is finally catching up.

Scientists just published the first-ever study of psilocybin therapy in people with a neurodegenerative condition, and the results are better than even they expected.

Researchers at UCSF gave 12 Parkinson's patients with depression or anxiety two doses of psilocybin alongside psychotherapy sessions. To their surprise, they saw improvements above and beyond the mood disorder symptoms.

• 📉 Depression plummeted: Scores dropped by 9.3 points (that's clinically significant) and stayed down for at least 3 months after treatment.

• 🧠 Thinking sharpened: Participants showed better visual learning, spatial working memory, and cognitive flexibility.

• 🚶 Movement improved: Motor function got better, in both patient-reported and clinician-measured assessments.

• 👌 Safety checked out: There were no adverse events any worse than temporary anxiety and nausea.

The best part is, no one saw the motor improvements coming. Researchers had actually worried psilocybin might make Parkinson's symptoms worse, given how it interacts with serotonin receptors. Now, they're wondering if mushrooms affect the disease process itself—possibly through anti-inflammatory effects, neuroplasticity, or glutamate modulation.

Of course, this was a tiny study with no placebo group, so larger trials are definitely needed. But it still suggests we can think bigger about what psychedelics are capable of.

Today, it’s wider medical application. Tomorrow, self-actualization. Baby steps. 🫠

AFTERGLOW

Germ theory

All the kombucha enjoyers out there already know bacteria and fungi go together like peanut butter and jelly. But even the most alien-looking scoby couldn’t prepare you for this. Scientists have taught E. coli bacteria to make psilocybin from scratch (i.e., without any expensive precursors), potentially revolutionizing how psychedelic medicine is produced at scale.

The breakthrough came after solving a stubborn problem: getting fungal enzymes to work in bacterial cells. But a Chinese research team figured it out. They made a few clever tweaks to boost production, such as modifying a key enzyme called PsiH, knocking out genes that break down psilocybin’s building blocks, and over-expressing a protein needed for the final step. Now, their trippy bacteria can produce nearly 80 mg/L of psilocybin—a 100x increase from the starting strain.

While the end product is chemically identical to mushroom-derived psilocybin, we can already hear the psychonauts’ questions forming. Is this “natural" or "synthetic"? Suppose it depends on your definition. But having more sustainable sources should only help as demand for these compounds grows. Now we count down the days till someone asks if their psilocybin is lab grown or free range.

Perks at work

Corporate America just got a tad more interesting. Experience Onward, a psilocybin service center in Oregon, has partnered with Enthea to create the first workplace benefit package covering psilocybin therapy. This collab marks a significant expansion for Enthea, which until now has been focused on ketamine (since it’s still the only federally legal psychedelic treatment option… minor details).

The program works as a "medical tourism" benefit, meaning employees from across the country can travel to Experience Onward's Portland facility for state-regulated sessions, and their employer will foot the bill. For companies, it comes down to dollars and sense. In theory, the investment should lead to reduced healthcare expenses, improved retention, and more resilient and productive employees.

As founder Daniel Carcillo puts it, the partnership is meant to help professionals "balancing high-performance careers with mental health challenges" who haven't found relief through conventional treatments. So while your manager may still frown upon microdosing at those mandatory team-building events, at least now your benefits package might help you process how insufferable they are.

CYCLISTS’ PICKS

• 📆 Event: Breaking Convention, Europe’s largest psychedelic conference, starts tomorrow. Take 10% off last-minute tickets with code BCTRICYCLE10.

• 🎶 Song: Jason Boreta’s latest track, “Hands of God,” samples a recording of Ann Shulgin recounting her first experience with MDMA.

• 🎙️ Podcast: A philosopher explains panpsychism, the theory that consciousness pervades everything, to Tim Ferriss.

• 📕 Book: The Illustrated Guide to DMT Entities is a full-color exploration of 25 of the most commonly encountered interdimensional beings.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

That’s all for today, Cyclists! Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

ONE CYCLIST’S REVIEW

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.