A dress that repairs tears by regrowing and blocks ultraviolet light has been developed using living Cordyceps militaris. Researchers reported that nutrients applied to the textile allow damaged areas to regrow. They also embedded other organisms within the fabric's sponge-like mycelium, including Aspergillus niger, which produces the melanin responsible for the garment's ultraviolet protection, alongside yeast that supplies pigments for its coloured patterns.
- Conventional engineered living materials based on mycelium are typically dried or heated after fabrication. Chemical treatment is also used, preventing further growth and increasing stability.
- These treatments remove living properties, including self-regeneration and responsiveness to the environment, from conventional materials despite their basis in mycelium.
- The research, reported on 26 August, has appeared in Science Advances and was led by Zhongchao of the Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
THE STUDY: A wearable dress has been made by stitching together three-dimensional films. The team cultured Cordyceps spores and turned them into pellets, which were packed into moulds and dried. Zhongchao, deputy director of the Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led the research.
- The embedded yeast produces yellow beta-carotene and purple violacein pigments. Aspergillus niger produces melanin, which gives the garment its ultraviolet-blocking capability.
- Beyond creating fibre-like materials, the researchers said their work supports broadly developing adaptable living material platforms for architecture as well as medicine and environmental applications.
