Dress Made of Living Mycelium Can Renew and Repair Itself
9th August 2026
Researchers in China have created a textile from living mycelium that is self-cleaning, near self-repairing and can be coloured or made UV protective through “plug-and-play” add-ons of different fungi or yeast.
The breakthrough from the researchers at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology is a type of engineered living material (ELM) – a material built off living organisms that stay active even after they’re fabricated into their final form.
This distinguishes it from most contemporary uses of mycelium, which involve drying and effectively killing the fungus to produce a stable, non-growing material that has become a popular emerging alternative to plastic packaging and vinyl.
Eeeeeeeeewwwwwww….