The beginnings

Didymo had been gnawing away at me for years, but until now there was no obvious way to contribute to trying to improve the situation. But in September 2024 I saw an article about a new medicine that could attack cancer by interfering with the messenger RNA that the cancer made which in turn was respsonsible for one of the damaging molecules that the cancer used to injure the host cell. Then, on reading some more about it, the idea grew that perhaps something similar could be done to fight didymo, which is not unlike a cancer in our rivers.

I needed expertise, so started emailing the various authors of the papers that were most relevant.

Most didn’t reply, but a few did…..