science
This living fabric cleans itself and mends its own rips
It repairs its own tears. It also knows when to stop.
A research team at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology has grown a fabric from a living fungus that cleans itself and repairs its own tears. The material comes from Cordyceps militaris, a fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine that forms fine threadlike filaments. Researchers cultivated it into pellets, pressed those into flexible sheets, and added glycerol to keep them pliable. When the fabric rips, fresh pellets placed on the damaged spot grow new fibers. Before anyone pictures a dress quietly expanding on its hanger, Li Ke, the paper's first author, offered reassurance. "A living textile does not mean that the dress is constantly growing during normal use," he said. Under dry conditions the fungus goes dormant. The team made a prototype dress, though the culture medium accounts for more than 95 percent of production costs, so cotton is safe for now. Environmental testing found the fabric degraded fully within 41 days.