Fungus

Although Ceriporia lacerata fungus causes tree wood to rot, it also has a good side. According to a new study, adding the fungus to agricultural soil allows tomatoes to be grown using much less fertilizer.

A study is offering clues to the origins of a deadly fungal pathogen that mysteriously appeared in hospitals around the world 10 years ago. The study chronicles the discovery of the pathogen for the first time in a remote natural environment.

There are untold energy sources all around us, if we can just figure out how to tap into them. Swiss researchers have now demonstrated an environmentally friendly way to make spongy wood flooring that can generate electricity with every step.

While most microbiome scientists focus on gut bacteria, a new school of research is starting to look at how the communities of fungus in our bodies can influence our metabolic health. A new study suggests fungal diversity may play a role in weight gain.

Infections of Cryptococcus fungi are potentially fatal, because the immune system has a hard time fighting off the invaders. But now researchers have given it a helping hand by adapting a cancer immunotherapy technique called CAR T cell therapy.

Fungus already shows promise as a "green" form of leather and protective packaging. Thanks to new research, it has now also found use in an environmentally-friendly sound-absorbing material.

A new review article, from a team of material scientists, is suggesting a leather-like material made from mushroom-derived biomass has the potential to be cheaper, and more environmentally sustainable, than animal leather or its plastic derivations.

Powdery mildew is a widespread fungal disease that attacks many crops. And while it typically has to be treated using fungicides, special ultraviolet light-emitting robots could soon prove to be a better way to go.

A newly discovered microbe identified in wild mosquito populations in Kenya has been found to protect the insects from malaria infection and could be recruited for malaria control strategies to limit transmission of the disease into human populations.

NASA's myco-architecture project at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungus.

Australian researchers have discovered a fungus in Tasmania that produces novel molecules with similar activity to opioids. These never-before-seen molecules may have similar analgesic properties to morphine but without its dangerous side effects.

A chemical derived from fungi has been shown to be effective at stopping skunk spray from stinking.