PubMed · 2026-05-19
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.
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.
Incorporating plant fibers and nanomaterials like graphene oxide into these biocomposites significantly expands their mechanical and functional properties for packaging and remediation uses.
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.