Felix Blei

About

Felix Blei, a Ph.D. holder in microbiology, is a renowned expert in natural products, particularly alkaloids. His groundbreaking research focused on unraveling the biosynthesis of psilocybin, leading to significant advancements in understanding the composition, pathways, and enzymatic processes involved in psychedelic mushrooms. This breakthrough laid the groundwork for his innovative in-vitro biocatalytic method of producing psilocybin. Additionally, his discovery of the co-occurrence of beta-carbolines in Psilocybe mushrooms has raised intriguing questions about the entourage effect. After completing his Ph.D., he spearheaded the development of the first quantitative rapid tests (QTests) for psilocybin. Through a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Germany, he expanded the QTest system to include drugs like LSD and MDMA. As a result, he founded miraculix, a university spin-off dedicated to further researching test procedures and providing test kits to users. In collaboration with addiction aid in Thuringia, he leads since three years the substance analysis in the pioneering mobile drug-checking model project called ALIVE. CEO and Founder of Miraculix, Postdoc FSU Jena, Lead scientist in the drug checking project ALIVE