Background of the educational program
Mexico and Latin America have a growing number of groups interested in the study of mycology and proof of this, are all the contributions that there are in terms of cultivation, ecology and taxonomic identification of fungi, however, there is no doctorate in mycology in the country. In addition, there are very few comprehensive works on the chemistry of bioactive metabolites of fungal origin with medicinal potential, so in recent years, a group of researchers assigned to different academic entities of the Veracruzana University has ventured into multidisciplinary studies addressing taxonomic, molecular aspects, biotechnological, chemical and “In Silico” analysis of native species of the genus Ganoderma, to try to take advantage of the medicinal potential that it has as a source of new drugs and to know on the other hand, the risk of its use without having the adequate information. At the same time, we are developing research papers on the search for microscopic fungi of variou Mexico has been par excellence a reference in the chemistry of natural plant products in Latin America, this has forged the development of notable phytochemical schools in recent decades. Like plants, fungi are also a source of useful metabolites for humans, it has been reported that more than 60% of the chemotherapeutic agents currently used, are derived from natural or semi-synthetic products from them, and according With FDA data, a high percentage of new anti-cancer drugs are of microbial origin, more than double the amount of active ingredients of plant origin. As of today, approximately 140000 fungal species are known, of which only half have been identified and, of these, only one tenth has been chemically studied; The foregoing, given their great variety and their ability to survive on virtually any substrate, these organisms have an inexhaustible source of organic molecules with possible biological activity.
