Self-repairing leather-like material made from fungi mycelium.
Biotechnologists from Newcastle and Northumbria Universities have developed a process to create a self-healing wearable material using mycelium, a thread-like structure produced by some types of fungus. The researchers grew their own batch of mycelium and applied a mix of temperatures and chemicals that allowed the material to become leather-like without killing the embedded chlamydospores. Testing showed that the newly restored material was just as strong as an undamaged control sample, though it was still possible to see where the holes had been.