Penn State University Professor C. Peter Romaine and Xi Chen, previously a post-doctoral scholar at Penn State, hold the patent to genetically modify Agaricus bisporus -- the button variety of mushroom that is the predominant edible species worldwide.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Romaine $2.2 million in initial funding for the project. Officials said the total value of the effort, if both phases of the development program are completed, could be up to $5.9 million.

"Our immediate research goals are to maximize the level of expression of various biopharmaceuticals and to devise efficient and economical methods for their extraction and purification from mushroom tissue," Romaine said.

The drugs will then be extracted from the mushroom into forms that could be administered to people. In a pending third year of the project, the researchers are expected to show they can execute a full-scale manufacturing effort and produce three million doses of a drug within a 12-week period.