Shocked scientists realize King Tutankhamun’s curse may cure cancer

King Tutankhamun has been dead for 3,348 years. He’s the most iconic Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, thanks largely to his unforgettable golden funerary mask that’s become a symbol of the ancient world.

But, in a very unexpected twist, Tutankhamun may be about to cause a revolution in cancer treatment, and it’s all because of the “curse” on his tomb that’s said to have killed those who opened it.

It sounds like something out of a horror movie, but you can’t argue with the facts: the first man to discover the tomb soon died of a mysterious and disfiguring skin infection. Others who explored Egyptian tombs followed, though eventually it was realized that this wasn’t magic, but instead the presence of the rare deadly fungus Aspergillus flavus, which can cause fatal lung and skin infections.

Deadly fungus thought to be a pharaoh’s “curse” has been turned into a compound that kills cancerous leukemia cells in lab tests

via UPenn pic.twitter.com/GqfjbuqBr2

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Now, as per a new study from the University of Pennsylvania, it turns out Tutankhamun’s fungus can be cultured, purified, and turned into a medicine that effectively combats leukemia and may be useful against many other cancers.

This RIPPs

More specifically, the mushrooms can be used to make ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RIPPS), an amino acid that forces your body to fight back and destroy cancer cells. Unfortunately, turning this into a mass-produced pharmaceutical may be a long way away.

Research paper author Qiuyue Nie perhaps understates things by saying the process is “complicated”, but has high hopes as the compound has “remarkable bioactivity“. Now, let’s be clear, the fact that this fungus comes from ancient Egyptian tombs is just a huge coincidence.

Historically there’s not even any proof that “curses” were put upon Pharoahs’ tombs, so the presence of a deadly but useful fungus is just chance given the unique atmospheric qualities of a tomb sealed for thousands of years. Even so, it’s one heck of a lucky break for science.

It remains to be seen if this can be turned into a genuinely effective cancer treatment, but if it does, let’s raise a glass of honeyed barley beer to the sun god Ra and thank him and his disciples for giving us some exciting new medicine. King Tut might be responsible for a revolution in medicine thousands of years after he took his final breath.