In the state of Montana, USA, researchers have developed a living and self-healing building material using mycelium, the root-like structures that fungi form underground. This material, despite its flexible and spongy texture, hardens to become load-bearing.
Research leader Dr. Chelsea Heveran emphasized that this discovery is a significant step towards developing a biological building material that could replace environmentally damaging cement. Cement production is known to exceed 4 billion tons annually and accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions.
The researchers added bacteria capable of producing calcium carbonate to the mycelium. In this process, the bacteria transformed the mycelium into a bone-like structure, resulting in a durable, long-lasting, and living building material.
This newly developed “living” material can keep the bacteria active for up to four weeks. Researchers believe that in the future, these structures could sense air quality or self-repair cracks.
Although this invention is exciting, experts point out that it is still a small-scale experiment and much more testing is needed before it can be used in large-scale constructions.
Scientists believe that these types of building materials could be particularly ideal for constructing infrastructure in disaster areas or in space. This is because these materials can be produced on-site instead of transporting cement.