Too long to read? Go for the highlights below. Record discoveries : Researchers catalogued 907 novel fungal compounds in 2024—a 64%...

Yeasir Mohammad Akib's team at Texas A&M pioneered binder jetting 3D printing with biomass-fungi composites, enabling fungal growth in printed structures to combat plastic waste. Using Trametes versicolor and hemp hurd, this method offers higher resolution and speed over extrusion. Biodegradable in 8 weeks, it promises sustainable packaging and construction applications, with optimization ongoing.

Researchers at Jouf University isolated Sarocladium kiliense from Lavandula stricta, revealing potent antimicrobial activity against superbugs like Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans, disrupting biofilms by 67%. The fungus also shows anticancer effects on liver and breast cells and strong antioxidant properties, offering hope against drug resistance.

Global poultry production is set to rise over 10% in the next decade, driven largely by chicken, amid pressures from climate change and resource competition (OECD/FAO, 2024). Researchers at Justus Liebig University Giessen, led by Robert Ringseis, are investigating fungal biomass as alternative feed. A Poultry Science study tested Pleurotus sapidus mushrooms in broiler diets.

Researchers from Egypt and Saudi Arabia have developed an innovative progesterone-reishi mushroom composite, published in RSC Advances, that could revolutionize hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer treatments. By encapsulating progesterone in Ganoderma lucidum (reishi), the team achieved 98.1% loading efficiency and sustained release of 88.25% over 48 hours—far outperforming free progesterone's rapid 2-4 hour dissolution.