Our Mission

Host Defense is built on Paul Stamets’ visionary research into the power and potential of mushrooms, especially mushroom mycelium, the root-like structures found growing below ground. The power of Host Defense comes from the discovery that the mycelium is the immune system of the mushroom.

Just as mycelium helps to support the immune system of humans, it also supports the health and immunity of the natural habitats where it grows. Mushroom mycelium is a cellular bridge connecting bees, trees, bears, plants and humans to the ecosystems in which they live. Our work is to build a healthier world with the power of mushrooms.

About Paul

Paul Stamets, speaker, author, mycologist, medical researcher and entrepreneur, is considered an intellectual and industry leader in fungi: habitat, medicinal use, and production. He lectures extensively to deepen the understanding and respect for the organisms that literally exist under every footstep taken on this path of life. His presentations cover a range of mushroom species and research showing how mushrooms can help the health of people and planet. His central premise is that habitats have immune systems, just like people, and mushrooms are cellular bridges between the two. Our close evolutionary relationship to fungi can be the basis for novel pairings in the microbiome that lead to greater sustainability and immune enhancement.

Our Global Mission

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COLLABORATE

with doctors to help support immunity and health

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PROTECT

the natural environment and all its inhabitants

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PIONEER

strategies to save the honey bee using mushrooms and fungi

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EDUCATE

communities about growing mushrooms for food

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DEVELOP

filtration methods to clean water using mushroom mycelium

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AID

agriculture and forest health by building soil with beneficial fungi

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INVEST

in integrated mushroom technologies to break down or neutralize toxic

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REPLACE

toxic pesticides with natural, non-toxic, non-invasive mushroom-based solutions

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ENCOURAGE

research to develop new biofuels using fungi