Mushrooms might hold the key to designing better materials—and researchers at Binghamton University are taking a close look.
By studying how mushrooms grow and handle pressure, scientists hope to create new materials that are both strong and efficient, inspired by nature.
Fungi have been evolving for millions of years, adapting their structures to survive tough conditions.
Now, a research team from Binghamton University and the University of California–Merced is focusing on a part of mushrooms called hyphae—tiny thread-like filaments that form a web-like network in mushrooms and other fungi.
These filaments twist and branch in complex ways, and that structure helps fungi respond to stress like bending or pressure.
By understanding how these tiny parts work together, scientists believe they can mimic them to build better materials for things like buildings, airplanes, or even medical devices.
In a recent study, the researchers compared two types of mushrooms: the common white button mushroom and the maitake mushroom.
White mushrooms have only one kind of filament and grow in random directions.
Maitake mushrooms are different—they grow in a specific direction toward light and moisture and have two types of filaments. This difference in structure affects how each mushroom responds to force.
To study this, the team used scanning electron microscopes to look closely at the mushrooms’ cell structures.
They also tested how much stress each mushroom could handle before breaking. From there, they built computer models to simulate how these structures work.
One important step is something called 3D Voronoi tessellation, which helps break the complex shape of mushroom filaments into simpler, computable parts. This allows researchers to run simulations and better understand how the structure affects strength.
Eventually, the team wants to take what they learn and use it to build new materials.
First, they’ll use these simulations to predict how a material should behave based on its structure—this is called direct design. Then comes inverse design, where they set a desired strength or flexibility, and artificial intelligence (AI) helps design a structure that meets those goals.
Thanks to advances in AI, it’s now possible to run thousands of simulations to predict how tens of thousands of tiny filaments should be arranged. With the help of machine learning, the team can create models and 3D print materials to test if the predictions are accurate.
This research could eventually lead to smarter, stronger materials for use in construction, aerospace, or other industries.
As Assistant Professor Mir Jalil Razavi said, “There is so much we can still learn from nature. We are just getting started with this kind of research.”
