The pharmaceutical industry is booming in India, with both original drugs and copies of popular American products being churned out at a fearsome speed, but one of the most popular drugs in India (as well as in neighboring Tibet and China) does not come from any fancy human-controlled chemical mixing. Called kira jai by locals and known alternately as a performance-enhancing sport supplement and an Indian Viagra, this miracle drug has an altogether more unusual origin–it sprouts from the heads of dead caterpillars high in the Himalayas. Kira jai is in fact a pulverized version of the fungus ophiocordyceps sinensis, one of 140 funguses of its particularly insidious genus, which are known for taking over the brains of small insects and controlling the movements of the host until the latter’s death.
Collection of this “zombie” fungus is on the rise in both Nepal and India, where many villagers increasingly look to the snowy Himalayas for their income rather than seeking jobs in the service or hospitality industries in one of India’s sprawling urban centers. It’s not an easy gig: the inhabited caterpillars are found at high altitude, where frostbite, snow blindness and treacherous terrain are common. And while it’s legal to gather, it’s illegal to sell. But a single fungus can fetch about three dollars–the equivalent of the average Indian laborer’s daily wage. // Patrick Barrett
