While explaining just how important fungi are, he notes that “without them, all our ecosystems would collapse.” Fungi recycle carbon on our planet and enable plants to access nutrients in exchange for being fed themselves, creating a relationship without which neither partner can survive. Sitting in an office surrounded by various samples collected from the underground world of fungi, he remarks that up to a fifth of all known species on Earth are fungi, although the exact number is hotly debated. His work helps scientists understand which fungal species should be selected for development of products based on how they grow, what they like to eat, and how they will interact with other species.īruns, whose favorite mushroom to eat is Boletus edulis (the porcini mushroom), knows just how important mushrooms are. Bruns explores the symbiotic associations of fungi with plant roots, called mycorrhizae. He is working to understand how plants depend on and live with fungi all across California. Professor Tom Bruns of the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley studies the ecology and evolution of fungi. We all know the cute, round button mushroom Agaricus bisporus in our British fry-ups and the delicate, slender enoki mushroom Flammulina velutipes in our Vietnamese pho-but there are millions of fungi species. As an engineer it’s exciting to explore novel materials that have never been tested, and this drew me into an entirely new field of research and a whole world of fungi. The promise of using fungi to produce useful resources inspired me to learn more about the biology, properties, and applications of fungi, both at UC Berkeley and with startups around the Bay Area. I’ve become captivated by them, trying to understand how simple mushrooms can be used to create such strong materials. Credit: Dan LurieĪs a doctoral researcher in the UC Berkeley Department of Mechanical Engineering studying with Professor Hari Dharan and Professor Alice Agogino, I became interested in fungi by looking to nature for ideas of how to engineer alternatives to synthetic materials. The author with a mushroom and mycology composite. Recently, a method has been developed to manufacture a replacement for animal-based leather using the flesh of a fungal species. Entrepreneurs have identified fungal species that can grow into hard and tough blocks, forming bricks that can be used for constructing houses. From mushroom bricks to clothing, fungi offer a huge range of unusual and novel applications. As more studies are done, we add more to the list of things fungi can do, with research providing the information and technologies needed to use fungi for all sorts of products. They are the recyclers of our planet, digesting carbon-based organic matter to make new living matter and nutrients. They form the underground fabric of our world, with giant hidden networks involved in many aspects of our food and ecosystems. Neither plants nor animals, fungi make up their very own kingdom. Once merely a tasty morsel, fungi now support a fast-paced biotech industry, with scientists and entrepreneurs developing new applications that could make them a more integral aspect of our lives. You probably eat mushrooms, but you likely don’t know that fungi have many other applications, including being used to make compostable mushroom bricks, packaging, and all sorts of materials.
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