Description du projet
Combiner champignons et bactéries pour créer de nouveaux biomatériaux
Les matériaux vivants artificiels (ELM) sont composés de cellules vivantes qui leur confèrent des propriétés et des fonctions uniques. Les ELM ont fait l’objet d’une grande attention dans le domaine de la science des matériaux en raison de leur ajustabilité et de leur potentiel de production durable. Financé par le Conseil européen de l’innovation, le projet Fungateria vise à générer un portefeuille innovant d’ELM associant champignons et bactéries. Les matériaux à base de champignons sont le plus souvent produits en cultivant la partie végétative du champignon – le mycélium – sur différents substrats organiques. Le mycélium sera associé à des bactéries qui serviront de châssis à des circuits génétiques contenant des capteurs. Les ELM ainsi créés présenteront des fonctionnalités avancées et une dégradation inductible lorsqu’ils ne seront plus nécessaires.
Objectif
Fungateria addresses a development gap in mycelium-based ELMs by developing a portfolio of ELMs that are composed of a synthetic co-cultivation consortium of a filamentous fungus and a bacterial strain. Sensing and adaptive growth of the fungal hyphae are exploited to develop an autonomous bottom-up and scalable manufacturing technology called Growth Composing (GC) that enables an engineered morphogenesis of mycelium materials using robotically controlled spray nozzles that generate local air, gas or aerosol flows steering hyphal growth. In addition, bioprinting is used to deposit inocula of the engineered bacterial strain in specific patterns and at specific times throughout the production process. Various ELM products are developed, ranging from consumer goods to applications in the environmental and construction sector, which become active through environmental cues of light, temperature and chemical attractants. To this end, synthetic biology engineering will be implemented to use the bacterial strain as a chassis for sensor-containing genetic circuits that render advanced functionalities to the ELM throughout its life cycle, either through direct activity or by influencing growth and morphology of the fungal partner. ELM activity is verified with probes that reveal bio-electric signaling in the materials - providing additional dimensions of control, monitoring, functionality and exploitation as actively computing devices. When no longer needed or having reached the end of their productive life, kill switches are activated either by human-controlled environmental triggers or triggers of the system itself, thereby causing the ELM to fully and quickly degrade without causing any negative environmental impact. Throughout the Fungateria project, a societal dialogue will be established to continuously align research objectives with ethical and regulatory requirements.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Régime de financement
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC GrantsCoordinateur
1435 Kobenhavn
Danemark