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The work around self-healing capacities of pure Mycelium was published in April 2023 and received a lot of attention in science and science related media.
Elise Elsacker and colleagues researched on conditions that dormant mycelium could retain its ability to regrow and show self-repairing properties. It is found that chlamydospores, thick-walled vegetative cells formed at the hyphal tip, may be the crucial part to the material's self-healing process. The study analyzed regrowth as well as mechanical properties of the material. This work is paving the way for speculations of self-repairing garments made of this material in the future. Coauthor Martyn Dade-Robertson, codirector of the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment in Newcastle upon Tyne, confirmed in an interview with ScienceNews that the technique found in the paper'could potentially go beyond a proof-of-concept and into commercialization in the next decade. Further research, however, is needed to make the leather stronger and determine how to control the chlamydospores growth.
Engineered living materials (ELMs) composed entirely of fungal cells offer significant potential due to their functional properties such as self-assembly, sensing, and self-healing. Alongside rapid developments in the ELM field, there is significant and growing interest in mycelium materials, which are made from the vegetative part of filamentous fungi, as a potential source of advanced functional materials. In order to advance the development of fungal ELMs that utilize the organism's ability to regenerate as self-repair, new methods for controlling and optimizing mycelium materials are needed, as well as a better understanding of the biological mechanisms behind regeneration. In this study, pure mycelium materials are fabricated for use as leather substitutes, and it is found that chlamydospores, thick-walled vegetative cells formed at the hyphal tip, may be the key to the material's self-healing properties. The results suggest that mycelium materials can survive in dry and oligotrophic environments, and self-healing is possible with minimal intervention after a two-day recovery period. Finally, the study characterizes the mechanical recovery and physical properties of damaged and healed samples, allowing for the first characterization of fungal ELMs.
Regeneration process of fungal ELM with self-healing capacities. A) Dry mycelium material damaged with holes but not subjected to a healing treatment. B) Healed mycelium material after treatment, seen from the aerial side where the wounds are not visible. The holes are fully overgrown by aerial white hyphae and therefore unnoticeable. C) Same sample as shown in B but seen from the side that was in contact with the liquid media, which created floating hyphae with a yellowish color. D) Graphical visualization of a process that disentangles the requirements to sustain the self-healing capacity of pure dried mycelium materials upon damage. Pictures and Caption by Elsacker, E., Zhang, M., & Dade‐Robertson, M. (2023). Fungal Engineered Living Materials: The Viability of Pure Mycelium Materials with Self‐Healing Functionalities. Advanced Functional Materials, 2301875.
