Listen to this PodcastMore 60-Second Earth
You are covered with fungus right now. But wouldn't it be cooler if you did it on purpose?
That's what Swiss scientists think. They've designed special plastic layers that provide a good home for the fungus Penicilium roqueforti. Yes, it's related to the medicine penicillin. And yes, it's the fungus you eat in blue cheese.
But in the case of the new, living material, the idea was to create a self-cleaning surface. By making the layers of plastic porous, but not too porous, the researchers both kept the fungus in place and allowed nutrients and gases to flow in and out. That let the fungus clean up food spills on the plastic's surface. The novel material was recently described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Voila: a living material that can clean itself up, in this case after a little spilled potato soup. As the scientists put it, this is quote "the first eating material" and one that in future could also lead to self-sterilizing materials. My only question is: how would it look as a shirt?
—David Biello
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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12 Comments
Add Commentcovered in fungus! maybe your crooked corporations have already lost their minds. All they will create is some type of disease or polymer based flesh eating fungus!Of course you won't take any responsibility for it or never pay for it. you just someway rob the public and lie about the data and the results. most everything you research is from things you reach to the moon with claims, but all you ever really reach for is to rob our pockets with your prototype fantasies!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think the "multiverse" has lost its little mind...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds like something that could hurt human flesh. How do you keep it out of your refrigerator? What is it is ingested? Some things were not meant to be.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds like something that could hurt human flesh. How do you keep it out of your refrigerator? What if it is ingested? Some things were not meant to be.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think I've got some of that stuff living in my toenails, and I can't get rid of it! They are clean, though...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeems like people are a bit paranoid. "What if it's ingested?" It IS already ingested. The article states that this fungus is what makes blue cheese blue. It is closely related to the fungus that produces penicillin. How could it hurt the skin? There have been no reports of a hunk of cheese biting someone back. Our skin is home to countless species of fungus and bacteria. Anyone who thinks other wise, who thinks that we are sterile beings in a sterile environment, probably isn't paying much attention.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd if we never tried new things, experimented and explored where "man is not wont to go", where would we be? Banging rocks on other rocks and eating raw meat. Imagine surgical equipment that can sterilize itself, floors that can be eaten off of, or packaging, in the refrigerator, that stays clean.
But I do agree: the multiverse has lost its mind.
Overexposure to penicillin can cause allergies, and resistance to its use as an antibiotic - not to mention penicillin-resistant bacteria. But, of course, they've thought of that too. No doubt. Uh-huh.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd how long does my "little bit of potato soup" have to sit there before it's all gone? A damp sponge takes what, 5 or 10 seconds to prep, use and rinse?
Maybe letting your spills sit and dissolve is a bachelor thing. Do they have a fungus that does dishes?
Seriously, fungal infections can produce skin irritations such as 'jock itch' and athletes foot. More seriously, they can produce pneumonia and other conditions. That nasty black mold in your shower can cause respiratory damage and severe headaches.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFungi are all around us, but are a more serious problem for those who are being treated with antibiotics - they kill off 'good' bacteria that normally keep fungi in check. Fungal infections are a significant health risk for hospital patients and workers...
don't worry that the fungus are among us, corporations will soon patent them and then remove them from us for infringement; or charge us to keep them. Better patent your personal fungi today!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut seriously, how's that surface do when you clean it with bleach?
David N'Gog, I like that idea.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI also like the idea of a kitchen counter top that can neutralize any traces of the chicken I cut up that day overnight. You clean up the mess, but don't have to worry about a deep cleaning once a month or if you cleaned perfectly. Or that space between the oven and the counter? I try not to think about the things that have evolved in there from the whale falls of my cooking.
I'd try it as a necktie, first. I'm always getting spots on my tie.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd, yes, multiverse has definitely lost it!
I see the luddites are out in full force today. I'm interested to know what your forebears thought about the wheel... "ehhh wheels could run over your toes! have you people considered that? bah! And what about wheeled crashes! some things were not meant to be"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeriously, you people are nutso.