Power of Mycelium and the Mushroom Movement

An oft-overlooked natural asset, mushrooms are not just infiltrating the fashion industry, but also have the potential to unlock new ways of thinking and healing. One of the planet’s oldest lifeforms was the centrepiece of some of last year’s biggest stories in material innovation in fashion.

Directing the growth of mushroom fibers may not sound like a big deal, but this evolution in biofabrication stands to transform the way we manufacture, consume and live. What are the possibilities?

Mycelium is kind of like yeast (both are fungi), but unlike most yeast cells, which grow as a single cell, mycelium is multicellular and can grow into macro-size structures—which we most often recognize as mushrooms. Mycelium's fast-growing fibers produce materials used for packaging, clothing, food and construction—everything from leather to plant-based steak to scaffolding for growing organs. Mycelium, when harnessed as a technology, helps replace plastics that are rapidly accumulating in the environment.

Mycelium also provides a cruelty-free way to create meatlike structures with a much smaller environmental footprint than traditional livestock, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the use of food crops for feed and land use conversion. All these benefits come with little environmental cost: the process of growing mycelium results in limited waste (mostly compostable) and requires minimal energy consumption.

This is not hypothetical. The technology for using mycelium to assemble the things that we need at scale already exists. Mushroom® packaging is on the market as a replacement for Styrofoam and is available in both the U.S. and Europe.

Meanwhile, research on mycelium is accelerating as groups around the world, including leading academic institutions, are beginning to build programs around mycelium materials. For example, mycelium-based self-repairing structures—just add water and watch them grow—that also respond by synthesizing antidotes when exposed to toxins are currently being developed by DARPA.

Humankind needs to find ways to get ourselves out of the mess we've created. Our world is an ecosystem maintained by self-assembling organisms. Now we have taken the helm, we must use these organisms to steer, repair and rebuild our stressed yet faithful celestial transport. Biological technology is the most powerful technology we have access to, and with the proper harnessing, we can use it to live in harmony on spaceship Earth.