Researchers at Kyoto University and Chosun University used CRISPR/Cas9 to disable gene mbp1 in Pleurotus ostreatus , producing mycelium mats that were approximately 30% stiffer and 50% stronger in tension than unedited controls. The edited fungal strains also produced harder mycelium-based composites under compression testing, and lost the ability to form fruiting bodies, which simplifies industrial production by keeping the fungus in its material-forming growth phase. This

Through their underground networks, fungi physically connect to plant roots, enabling the transfer of nutrients and chemical signals between trees: a system ecologists call the "Wood Wide Web."

Danish mycelium company Rebound and Det Levende Hus have developed a prototype interior door with a core grown from cultivated fungi, framed in reclaimed timber.

Filamentous fungi produce enzymes, nanomaterials, and electrical signals that could underpin a new generation of biosensors capable of detecting pollutants, glucose, and pathogens. Mycelium networks generate structured electrical impulses that researchers are beginning to harness for unconventional computing and wearable sensing devices. A comprehensive review published in Biosensors maps five years of progress across molecular, material, and ecosystem scales, identifying bo

Graphic design has long operated under an unspoken assumption: that printed materials should endure. Posters weather seasons on hoardings; textiles persist in landfill for decades. Yet the messages they carry are often redundant within days. This tension sits at the heart of GROWinK, a project developed by Peerasin Punxh Hutaphaet , a Thai designer completing the MA Material Futures programme at Central Saint Martins in London. Credits: Punxh Punxh's background is in product