Q."Statins" are an important class of cholesterol-lowering drugs of microbial origin. Name the fungus from which the first blood-cholesterol-lowering statin was extracted and briefly explain its mode of action.

[!TLDR] Monascus purpureus was the source of the first statin; statins lower LDL cholesterol by blocking the liver's cholesterol-synthesising enzyme. …

The fungus Monascus purpureus was the original microbial source from which the first blood-cholesterol-lowering statin drug was extracted. Statins act by inhibiting a specific enzyme in the human liver called HMG-CoA reductase, which is a key enzyme the liver normally uses in the biochemical pathway that synthesises cholesterol. By blocking this enzyme's action, statins reduce the liver's own cholesterol production, which in turn lowers the amount of low-density-lipoprotein (LDL, often called 'bad') cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream -- this is why statins are widel …

Identify the fungal source, then explain the mechanism at the level expected -- blocking a specific liver enzyme in the cholesterol- …

A common gap is stating only that statins 'lower cholesterol' without explaining the mechanism (enzyme inhibition) that produces t …