image credit: VUB / Simon Vanderlook

image credit: VUB / Simon Vanderlook

image credit: VUB / Simon Vanderlook

Bringing mycelium-based materials into an 'Engineered Living Materials' context

The FUNGATERIA project focuses on bringing mycelium-based materials into an ‘Engineered Living Material' (ELM) context. ELMs comprise living cells that remain biologically active in use-cases, thereby offering radically new and tailored functionalities over non-living materials, for example: self-regeneration, adaptation to environmental cues and self-organisation across hierachies of scale and structure. In this project, we target three primary objectives:

1. to develop a portfolio of ELMs using a co-cultivation process employing mycelium and bacteria.
2. to develop a modular and generic ELM manufacturing platform.
3. to probe the emerging ethical, social and environmental issues for ELM technologies.

The emerging field of ELMs is still in its infancy, but it promises radical and disruptive alternatives to our current methods of material production, fitting within a broader paradigm shift towards biofabrication which promises to become a dominant mode of manufacturing in the 21st Century.
This project will address an existing development gap in the field by developing a portfolio of mycelium-based ELMs composed from a co-cultivation process utilising fungi and a bacterial strain.

We hypothesise that adaptive growth of mycelium can be exploited to develop an autonomous bottom-up manufacturing technology, with properties such as strength, density and growth rate being locally informed by interactions with bacteria and the environment. We also aim to implement functions targeting ecological priorities such as the break-down of environmental pollutants and atmospheric carbon sequestration.

In this project, the concept of mycelium-based ELMs further includes the genetic engineering of the bacterial partner, providing a further dimension of control towards the production of ELM’s with predictable functionalities, shapes and other properties.

In the long term, the results of this project promise to contribute to transformations across all sectors by providing living materials that can regenerate, self-heal, and respond to environmental stimuli in a resource conscious way.

This project sets out the ambitious target of holistically considering ELM design, modelling, production and lifecycle. From a materials perspective, the project seeks to establish the insights and technologies to demonstrate:

geometric approximation between design intent & production of complex 3D structures
reproducibility in morphological outcomes at production stage
predictability of function at application stage
scalar versatility in the production of the ELM, from mm to meter length scale
compositional versatility in cellular arrangement and differentiation
novel and controllable interactions between the ELM and environmental cues

Latest news and updates

2nd Annual EIC ELM Portfolio Meeting

The FUNGATERIA consortium is delighted and honoured to have particpated in second annual meeting of The European Innovation Council (EIC) ELMs Portfolio

The FUNGATERIA consortium welcomes a new partner

The FUNGATERIA consortium is delighted to welcome Prof. Georgios Sirakoulis and his team from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), as a new partner.

FUNGATERIA features in the Protocognition Exhibition, Bristol, UK

Step into this captivating art exhibition, where scientists and artists join forces to unveil the mesmerising microcosms of our world. The exhibition is organised by Bristol Art Gallery and Unconventional Computing Lab UWE Bristol, under aegis of EC H2020 projects COGITOR and FUNGATERIA and the EPSRC project Computing with Proteinoids

A minimal model of mycelium morphogenesis

Early results from modelling activities by partner KADK, at the Chair for Biohybrid Architecture. In this continuous PDE model we try to capture the microscopic dynamics of the fungi-substrate-environment system on a scale that can inform us about the resulting macroscopic material.

Self-Healing Fungal Leather – VUB at Venice Biennale 2023

Fungateria research by Vrije Universiteit Brussels brings a novel perspective to sustainable architecture, echoing the Belgian Pavilion's theme "In Vivo" at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.

SSF cultivation of pure mycelium mats

Initial investigations exploring the impact of cultivation parameters on the production, properties and morphogenesis of pure mycelium mats through solid-state fermentation (SSF).

Fungi and bacteria co-cultivation

In collaboration with the VIB BioImaging Core in Ghent, partner Ghent University has started testing promising co-cultivation set-ups of bacteria and fungi.

Carlsberg Foundation grant awarded

The Carlsberg Foundation has awarded an infrastructure grant to Prof. Phil Ayres of coordinating partner, Royal Danish Academy. The grant will support the procurement of equipment to enhance the capabilities of the Academy's Biolab to produce and analyse microbially mediated materials, with particular focus on ELMs within the Fungateria project.

FUNGATERIA Kick-off meeting

The FUNGATERIA Kick-off took place today - 16.11.2022 - at the Royal Danish Academy.

The FUNGATERIA project officially begins

Today marks the official start of the Fungateria project! Over the next 4 years, we will investigate the development of novel Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) using a co-culitvation approach combining fungi and bacteria.

image credit: VUB / Simon Vanderlook

image credit: VUB / Simon Vanderlook

image credit: VUB / Simon Vanderlook

The FUNGATERIA project focuses on bringing mycelium-based materials into an ‘Engineered Living Material' (ELM) context. ELMs comprise living cells that remain biologically active in use-cases and offer radically new and tailored functionalities over non-living materials, for example: self-regeneration, adaptation to environmental cues and self-organisation across hierachies of scale and structure.
In this project we target three primary objectives:

1. To develop a portfolio of ELMs using a co-cultivation process employing mycelium and bacteria.
2. To develop a modular and generic ELM manufacturing platform.
3. To probe the emerging ethical, social and environmental issues for ELM technologies.

+ Read more

The emerging field of ELMs is still in its infancy, but it promises radical and disruptive alternatives to our current methods of material production, fitting within a broader paradigm shift towards biofabrication which promises to become a dominant mode of manufacturing in the 21st Century.
This project will address an existing development gap in the field by developing a portfolio of mycelium-based ELMs composed from a co-cultivation process utilising fungi and a bacterial strain.

We hypothesise that adaptive growth of mycelium can be exploited to develop an autonomous bottom-up manufacturing technology, with properties such as strength, density and growth rate being locally informed by interactions with bacteria and the environment. We also aim to implement functions targeting ecological priorities such as the break-down of environmental pollutants and atmospheric carbon sequestration.

In this project, the concept of mycelium-based ELMs further includes the genetic engineering of the bacterial partner, providing a further dimension of control towards the production of ELM’s with predictable functionalities, shapes and other properties.

In the long term, the results of this project promise to contribute to transformations across all sectors by providing living materials that can regenerate, self-heal, and respond to environmental stimuli in a resource conscious way.

This project sets out the ambitious target of holistically considering ELM design, modelling, production and lifecycle. From a materials perspective, the project seeks to establish the insights and technologies to demonstrate:

geometric approximation between design intent & production of complex 3D structures
reproducibility in morphological outcomes at production stage
predictability of function at application stage
scalar versatility in the production of the ELM, from mm to meter length scale
compositional versatility in cellular arrangement and differentiation
novel and controllable interactions between the ELM and environmental cues

Latest news and updates

2nd Annual EIC ELM Portfolio Meeting

The FUNGATERIA consortium is delighted and honoured to have particpated in second annual meeting of The European Innovation Council (EIC) ELMs Portfolio

The FUNGATERIA consortium welcomes a new partner

The FUNGATERIA consortium is delighted to welcome Prof. Georgios Sirakoulis and his team from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), as a new partner.

FUNGATERIA features in the Protocognition Exhibition, Bristol, UK

Step into this captivating art exhibition, where scientists and artists join forces to unveil the mesmerising microcosms of our world. The exhibition is organised by Bristol Art Gallery and Unconventional Computing Lab UWE Bristol, under aegis of EC H2020 projects COGITOR and FUNGATERIA and the EPSRC project Computing with Proteinoids

A minimal model of mycelium morphogenesis

Early results from modelling activities by partner KADK, at the Chair for Biohybrid Architecture. In this continuous PDE model we try to capture the microscopic dynamics of the fungi-substrate-environment system on a scale that can inform us about the resulting macroscopic material.

Self-Healing Fungal Leather – VUB at Venice Biennale 2023

Fungateria research by Vrije Universiteit Brussels brings a novel perspective to sustainable architecture, echoing the Belgian Pavilion's theme "In Vivo" at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.

SSF cultivation of pure mycelium mats

Initial investigations exploring the impact of cultivation parameters on the production, properties and morphogenesis of pure mycelium mats through solid-state fermentation (SSF).

Fungi and bacteria co-cultivation

In collaboration with the VIB BioImaging Core in Ghent, partner Ghent University has started testing promising co-cultivation set-ups of bacteria and fungi.

Carlsberg Foundation grant awarded

The Carlsberg Foundation has awarded an infrastructure grant to Prof. Phil Ayres of coordinating partner, Royal Danish Academy. The grant will support the procurement of equipment to enhance the capabilities of the Academy's Biolab to produce and analyse microbially mediated materials, with particular focus on ELMs within the Fungateria project.

FUNGATERIA Kick-off meeting

The FUNGATERIA Kick-off took place today - 16.11.2022 - at the Royal Danish Academy.

The FUNGATERIA project officially begins

Today marks the official start of the Fungateria project! Over the next 4 years, we will investigate the development of novel Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) using a co-culitvation approach combining fungi and bacteria.

+ All news