Enlisting synthetic fungal-bacterial consortia to produce multi-cellular mycelium-based ELMs with computational capability

Driven by the motivation to address grand societal challenges such as human-induced ecological upheaval, resource scarcity and projections of a surge in material demand over the next 40 years, but also by the need to transition and expand our material base, scientists are increasingly turning towards biology as an inspiration source for the design and engineering of next-generation advanced materials. Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) contribute to this expansion and transition and endless applications in various sectors such as construction, healthcare and environment can be envisaged.

Alongside rapid developments in the ELM field, there is a rapidly increasing interest in the research and development of mycelium materials, which are composed of the vegetative part of filamentous fungi. Based on the natural metabolic capabilities of fungi, these materials can be grown on a wide variety of organic substrates, such as agricultural and/or industrial waste or side streams, thereby giving rise to an interesting new class of natural materials with highly tunable properties. It can be envisaged that mycelium-based ELMs have a great potential given the rapid growth to various scales, the robustness of fungi in harsh conditions as opposed to mammalian cells and their advanced biological properties, including environmental sensing and transmission of electronic signals. Nevertheless, research of living mycelium-based materials has been limited.

In line with the production and implementation of ELMs in a resource and environmentally conscious manner, Fungateria addresses this development gap and targets three primary objectives:
(1) to develop a portfolio of mycelium-based ELMs composed of a synthetic co-cultivation consortium of a filamentous fungus and a bacterial strain;
(2) to develop an autonomous bottom-up manufacturing technology that enables an engineered morphogenesis of mycelium materials;
(3) to probe the emerging ethical, social and environmental issues for ELM technologies.

We identify four key areas that make up the project's pathway to impact:

(1) Technological impacts - the development of the unique bottom-up autonomous fabrication platform will not only generate a foundation for the production of mycelium-based ELMs, but will also generate insights and principles for similar production platforms for other ELM organism types;

(2) Economic impacts - because of the modular nature of the fabrication platform, upscaling becomes feasible thereby enabling the valorisation of high-volume agricultural or industrial side streams. A biobased value chain can be envisaged, involving various sectors such as waste management and logistics on the side of feedstock providers, industrial biotechnology companies on the side of technology providers and various consumer good sectors (packaging, textiles/fashion/design, automotive, construction, healthcare) on the side of end users;

(3) Sustainability impacts - by making better use of biological raw material, by-products and waste streams (e.g., forestry and agricultural residues, food waste) as feedstocks for fungal based ELM production, sustainable material production based on circular economy principles is viable;

(4) Societal impacts - given that it has been demonstrated that standard mycelium materials are an easily accessible technology for the general public, Fungateria’s focus on mycelium-based ELMs will lead to opportunities of creating public awareness regarding ELMs, thereby paving the way for social acceptance other ELM types.