Currently, a Taiwanese pound (600 grams) of the fungus fetches about NT$20,000. Some dealers have been known to weigh down larvae with lead or to mix in other similar larval fungae and starch. People end up getting both less C. sinensis than they have paid for and lead poisoning. And the few spots where you can find the fungus in the summer on the mainland are getting so picked over that "that there virtually isn't clump of grass that hasn't been upturned," says Yang Shih-fu, a Chinese herbal pharmacist who worries that declining harvests will imperil supplies.Test-tube fungus
Because this treasured ingredient of Chinese herbal medicines is of such uneven quality and so expensive, over the last three or four years Taiwan Sugar in southern Taiwan and Tah Chwen Food (an affiliate of Tah An Kong Yen Food) in northern Taiwan have each been working to produce the fungus artificially and thus overcome limitations caused by geography and harvest quantity.
The first step was to go to the mainland and obtain some natural dongchong xiacao, from which the living fungus was extracted. They then worked to get the fungus to grow continuously in the test-tube before moving on to fast mass production in industrial vats. When the sporocarps of the fungus are removed from the vats, it is necessary to separate them from the culture medium they feed on. When they have 100% fungus, the manufacturers turn it into dry powder and put it into capsules.
While the process may sound quite similar to typical fermentation techniques, it involves extracting high quality C. sinensis, the selection of appropriate different media for absorption by the fungae at different times and also the question of how to maintain a high level of oxygen in the tank without harming the fungus. Getting these right required a long process of trial and error. Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken three or four years to get to where they are now.
Entering a biotech factory producing C. sinensis, we are greeted with a scent redolent of grass and wood coming from large metal vats used to grow the fungus in mass quantities. In the vats, culture media serve as stand-ins for moth larvae. For every ton in the ITRI vats as many as 20,000 C. sinensis sporocarps can be produced in a day. And Taiwan Sugar already has orders for more than two tons of the fungal powder, which comes to roughly NT$10 million. "It's not necessary to go to the Tibetan Plateau and import the fungus. Today, it's available in Taiwan at a low price, and it is grown here under conditions that simulate those found in nature," notes Chang Chun-ming. "Being able to buy the C. sinensis with its quality assured is a benefit of biotechnology."
"One box of the fungus is 25 grams. The price of two boxes of the powder is equivalent to about a kilo of sugar," remarks Yang Po-wen, director of product processes development systems for Taiwan Sugar, by way of comparison. You can see that the production of the fungus has already become a goose that lays golden eggs. Using biotechnology to develop new products has become an important strategy for Taiwan Sugar, and the company has hired six new PhDs for this purpose.Grass or bugs?
But is the biotech fungus the same as nature's? Originally, the dongchong xiacao in Chinese medicine included both the "summer grass" of the sporocarp and also the "winter bug" of the moth larva, whereas now only the former is being synthesized in the laboratory. In which case, is it really the same as the dongchong xiacao used in herbal medicines? And is eating fungus that is artificially grown in culture media the same as eating fungus developed in a bat moth's larva? Some doctors of Chinese medicine and herbal drug experts have their doubts.
"The artificially produced C. sinensis not only has the same components as the dongchong xiacao found in nature, but in fact its purity and effects are better than nature's version." Two research organizations have come to the same conclusion on this point. Taiwan Sugar's Yang Po-wen explains that they used chromatographic analysis to compare the artificially produced fungus with its natural brother, and determined that its polysaccharides, minerals, vitamins and amino acids were virtually identical, and thus the two would bring the same effects.
Chang Chun-ming explains, "The C. sinensis we buy in herbal pharmacies is mostly the fungal growth of the 'summer grass.'" In fact, the nutritients from the larva of the "winter bug" have already been absorbed and transformed by the "summer grass." All that's left of the bug is the woody shell, which offers no more nutrition than dirt. While it may appear as if the shell is very nutritious, it's not the case. Even many herbal pharmacists are ignorant about this. "Once I went to a Chinese herbal pharmacy and I asked the proprietor if there were any loose bits of 'summer grass' for sale. He happily sold me a pile of broken bits of the 'grass' for next to nothing. He clearly didn't know if the good part was the larva or the fungus." Chan Chun-ming explains that with artificially cultivated C. sinensis you get the essence without the dregs. The purity is 100%, which is better than with nature's version. Good medicine, bad medicine
Although the ancient medical texts do describe C. senensis as good for the kidneys and a remedy for impotence, once the news media started billing the biotech version as the Chinese Viagra both Chang Chun-ming and Yang Po-wen came forward to declare that the fungus lacked Viagra's ability to quickly and directly bring about erections. Chen Chien-chih, who tested C. sinensis on animals, notes, "The swelling effect that C. sinensis has on the tissue of the penis isn't significant. If you were to rely on it to overcome impotency, I'm afraid you would have to eat a huge amount to have only a slight effect!"
The fact is that in traditional Chinese medicine, kidney-fortifying C. sinensis is thought to have no direct effect on the sexual organs. Yang Shih-fu, a Chinese herbal pharmacist, explains that fortifying the kidneys is thought to "cultivate qi." C. sinensis' effect on the sexual organs is largely indirect, by relaxing the body, cultivating qi, and dissipating tension and anxiety. If qi is flowing unhindered through the body, then sexual problems will resolve themselves. Of course, righting the overall problem requires more time. Sometimes doctors of traditional Chinese medicine prescribe both C. sinensis and animal ingredients that are packed with male hormones, such as sea horses, horned toads, deer penises and deer antlers. By so doing, they treat both the symptom and the root cause.
Viagra may have created a worldwide sensation, but from the perspective of Chinese medicine, which is opposed to sexual overindulgence, trouble with the sexual organ is indicative of overall health problems. A pill that mechanically brings about an erection instead of helping to provide a holistic solution is regarded as belonging to the category of "lower drugs," those that harm the body.The best medicine is preventive
Because C. sinensis is classified by the Department of Health as being a health food, there is no need for its manufacturers to go through the long, involved process of chemically analyzing its components, performing clinical trials and meeting other such conditions. Yet its status as a health food means that marketers of C. sinensis cannot promote its medicative or curative effects. Nevertheless, research papers published by Taiwan University Hospital and Union Chemical Laboratories report that extracts of the fungus directly stimulate the secretion of cortisone in the adrenal cortex of white mice. Cortisone is a steroid naturally produced in the human body that helps to fight allergies and infections and generally strengthens resistance to disease. But encouraging the body's own secretions is quite different from administering cortisone supplements, which might appear to be miracle workers but can easily be overused and harm the body in various ways.
"Nature is truly awe-inspiring. The Chinese herbal pharmacopeia passed down over thousands of years has many complex ingredients and effects. The more you research it, the more you feel gratitude and admiration for the wonder of creation," exclaims Yang, who holds a doctorate in chemistry.
In traditional Chinese medicine, "The best medicine is preventive." "Good drugs" are those that cultivate life and can be taken often. Chinese medicine focuses on getting one's body to gain vitality on its own, so that weaknesses are eliminated and the body can fight disease itself. As a result, in Chinese medicine different prescriptions are often used to treat the same ailment, and conversely, identical or similar prescriptions may be used to fight different diseases. For instance, according to Chinese medical principles, impotency is a symptom of 12 different possible conditions. To say that one prescription can cause all men to recover sexual potency is not regarded as possible. Even if C. sinensis is called the Chinese Viagra, it achieves its result of bolstering virility by strengthening the whole body, which gets to the crux of the difference between Chinese and Western medicine.The science of vagueness
Ancient Chinese medical texts describe the kidneys as being the root of a body's natural endowment and its source of qi, and many traditional Chinese medicines are designed to fortify the kidneys. Advertisements for kidney medicines often employ the slogan "Fortify the kidneys, maintain vitality"-as if all will be well once the kidneys are. Yang Shih-fu explains that this abundance of kidney fortifiers in these texts does not mean that ancient Chinese doctors were obsessed with the penis, because kidney fortifiers are regarded as helping not just the reproductive organs but also the urinary tract and adrenal glands. What's more, the kidneys are closely related to the bones and the lungs, and problems with breathing or the production of blood often call for prescriptions treating the kidneys.
In Chinese medicine the five Chinese primary elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) affect each other in various adverse or synergistic ways. In the past Chinese medicine couldn't offer any evidence in support of this theory, and Western medical doctors looked upon it as just so much nonsense. But now it is known that the cells of many organs secrete cytoplasm that affects or is even principally used by other organs. "Don't think that definitions which are vague are bad; instead you should respect the vagueness of Chinese medicine, because people are wholes that cannot be split apart. Sex has multiple functions, and the phenomenon of life is not entirely clear," asserts ICM's Chen Chieh-pu.
"In researching Chinese medicine, both developing new medicines and respecting the ancient Chinese medical principles are essential," argues Chen Chieh-pu. Synthesizing chemical components or extracting new drugs from natural herbal, mineral or animal substances has long been an important process in mainstream medicine. Quinine, which is used to treat malaria; the cardiotonic rehmannin; the painkiller morphine; and antibiotics, which are widely used and have saved so many; were all discovered in natural herbal medicines or fungi.
And even if is not now possible to analyze completely the content and methodology of traditional Chinese medical theory, many of the medicinal ingredients in its prescriptions may work in different ways to bring a patient to health, or perhaps even work synergistically to treat a disease against which they would do little or nothing individually. The US Federal Drug Administration has accepted the use of herbal drugs, and Medicare and Medicaid now cover it. "While many of its methods still defy explanation, Chinese medicine does provide an entirely different model for modern medicine and thus is a priceless asset," Chen says. "Yet the scientific method as used in Western medicine shows clearly how individual medicines work and provides Chinese medicine with effective new techniques."
Once upon a time the legendary Shen Nong tried "the 100 herbs" to begin the Chinese medical tradition. Modern day Shen Nongs needn't try 100 herbs. Instead, with the help of modern technology, they are performing compositional analysis on herbal medicines and conducting research into the theories of Chinese medicine. There is no longer such a clear-cut line between modern medicine and traditional treatments. Perhaps we await the day of an even more inspired synthesis of Western and Chinese medicine, a day when a new and better Viagra is researched and developed.
