Scientists are combining bacteria-made cellulose and mushroom-like fungal threads into next-generation materials that can be tailored for bone repair, biodegradable packaging, and pollution cleanup — all without petroleum-based plastics.
1
Bacterial cellulose from Komagataeibacter combined with Ganoderma fungal mycelium can be mineralized with hydroxyapatite (the same mineral in bone) to create scaffolds that actively support bone regrowth.
2
Incorporating plant fibers and nanomaterials like graphene oxide into these biocomposites significantly expands their mechanical and functional properties for packaging and remediation uses.
3
Self-healing 'living materials' engineered through synthetic biology are emerging as a viable class of biocomposites, though industrial scaling and batch-to-batch consistency remain key unsolved challenges.
mail
Weekly plant science — one email, Saturdays.
Check your inbox to confirm — link expires in 24 hours.
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many signup attempts from your network. Try again in an hour, or email hello@plant.news.