Clear-cutting boreal forests does not reduce the total number of ectomycorrhizal fungal species, but permanently alters which species are present, with effects lasting at least a century.

Mushroom species such as Pleurotus ostreatus can degrade up to 95% of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in controlled conditions, pointing to a powerful enzymatic toolkit for cleaning polluted land.

A UK biotech startup is converting waste bread into a high-performance cosmetic oil, offering the beauty industry a credible alternative to palm oil. CleanOil 25 has already received regulatory approval in the UK, EU, and US, and was co-developed with major industry partners THG Labs and Croda. The technology, rooted in a decade of university research, cuts greenhouse gas emissions by over 95% compared to conventional agricultural oils.

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

Fungal proteins can trigger ice formation in clouds, offering a potentially safer alternative to silver iodide: the toxic compound currently used in cloud seeding.