Mycelium growing blocks from Ecovative
Have you heard about biomanufacturing?
Biofabrication is using living organisms to build objects or even architectural constructions, and my favorite is biofabrication with mycelium.
The mycelium is the true fungus, since the colorful and diverse forms that sprout from trees, leaves or from the ground of the jungle and forests are the fruiting bodies of the fungus, responsible for reproduction through the dispersal of spores, but the living fungus is a network of hyphae made of chitin that branches and grows along anything that allows it.
Ecovative was the first company to biofabricate using Ganoderma mycelium, a shelf fungus that has very strong structural hyphae and allows for the creation of more resistant objects than other fungal species; Ecovative was followed by Mycowokrs, who collaborate with brands such as Adidas and Stella McCartney.
How is it achieved? Agro-industrial waste, usually sugar cane or corn bagasse, is crushed and sterilized to become a substrate, that is, what the fungus will feed on. Once sterilized, it is inoculated with the selected fungus strain. It must be mixed vigorously and then placed in molds of the desired shape and allowed to grow for periods of 7 days onwards. Once the figure inside the mold is completely white, it means that the mycelium has already covered the entire substrate and it is safe to unmold to carry out a maturation phase so that the mycelium darkens, or to dry to prevent the fungus from fruiting.
There are companies, designers, artists and other people in Latin America and the world who are dedicated to researching and experimenting in biomanufacturing. If you want to know more, you can visit their Instagram profiles:
If you are a nerd you can read this paper: "Development of an extrudable paste to build mycelium-bound composites"
For lovers of experimental design, check out Future Materials Bank: Mycelium
If you want to experiment, check out this video from Ecovative
Biofabricated containers for agro-industrial waste with mycelium
3D printed mycelium tests by Officina Corpuscoli design studio
