LocationsFungi are special organisms, and although they have been helping us for thousands of years to produce cheeses, wines, and other fermented products, we are only beginning to uncover their true potential. It is estimated that we know only a small percentage of the existing species, leaving a vast world yet to explore. After all, fungi belong to a separate kingdom, with unique characteristics and abilities.
The Future is Fungi: How Mushrooms are Becoming Key Players in Development
1 de Octubre de 2024
At the Co_Lab, UNDP Argentina's Accelerator Lab, we are dedicated to scanning for early signals of change, identifying patterns and trends that could transform our future. Recently, we have focused on "fungal signals," exploring how fungi could be a crucial tool in building a more sustainable and resilient future.
Fungi are neither plants nor animals. Although it may seem strange, they are more closely related to us than to organisms who do photosynthesis. After all, we both consume other living beings for sustenance, rather than using the sun to synthesize sugars. However, fungi have a unique strategy: instead of ingesting their food like animals, they immerse themselves in it. They release enzymes outside their bodies to break down nutrients and then absorb them. They achieve this through the mycelium, a vast network of filaments called hyphae that grow within the substrate, forming the true body of the fungus. The mushroom, or fruiting body, is what we typically call a "fungus," but it is only the reproductive structure, much like flowers are to plants. These unique traits give fungi a variety of properties that we can harness.
Fungi: a sustainable and nutritious food source Funga* and Signals of Change
At the Co_Lab, we have learned that fungi are being used in several fields: from providing new sources of nutritious food and sustainable manufacturing to acting as molecular agents for the remediation of contaminated water and soil. They are also used as supplements to boost the immune system, and there is promising research into the use of psychoactive substances from fungi to treat depression and anxiety. Thus, fungal signals cover a wide range of areas, from food and myco-manufacturing to bioremediation and mental health.
One of humanity's greatest challenges is feeding the growing global population in the most sustainable way possible. Fungi have much to contribute to this area, not only due to their nutritional value but also because of how they are grown: production with a low environmental impact that can be done in small spaces using waste products, like sunflower husks. More mushroom varieties are being produced, their consumption is increasing, and alternatives to beef protein—which has a very high environmental cost—are being developed from fermented products. For example, the Argentine researcher Francisco Kuhar, scientific director of Innomy, in addition to his valuable contributions to evolutionary biology and other areas of mycology, is exploring how fungi can serve as meat substitutes, offering nutritious and ecological options that could transform our diets.
Fungi: agents of environmental cleanup
White rot fungi can degrade wood like no other organism, thanks to enzymes that can break the bonds in lignin, one of nature's most resistant substances. Leveraging these natural abilities, mycelium is also becoming a key material for mycoremediation, a technique that uses fungi to break down contaminants in soil and water. For instance, mycologist Leonardo Majul from the Institute of Mycology and Botany (University of Buenos Aires [UBA] – National Scientific and Technical Research Council [CONICET]) has investigated the use of the fungus Pycnoporus sanguineus and other species to degrade toxic compounds.
The rise of Myco-manufacturing
Myco-manufacturing is another emerging field, with innovations like Radial, a company that makes fungal biomaterials from agricultural waste, incubated by biotech accelerator GRIDX. Another example is experimental designer Heidi Jalkh, who uses mycelium to create sustainable materials that can replace plastic and other non-biodegradable products, enabling a circular economy. While fungi could be the key to a new era of ecological architecture, replacing polluting materials like Styrofoam, champions of the fungal movement emphasize that this is not just about substitution but about a more radical shift in the logic of production and how we relate to nature.
Fungi and mental health: a surprising connection
There are also many citizen science initiatives led by people like Florencia Cesar Tomarello, who grow mushrooms at home, combining her passion for mycology and art with a practical approach to growing sustainable food and medicinal substances. Increasingly, people outside of academia are becoming true mycology experts, even discovering new species with unique properties. Fungi are also being used as tools for social inclusion in complex contexts, such as prisons. Mycologist Ramiro Matute González, from the Edible and Medicinal Mushroom Biotechnology Laboratory, has developed mushroom cultivation workshops at the Bahía Blanca prison, located in the province of Buenos Aires in Argentina. This helped inmates to learn skills including mushroom cultivation and micro-enterprise management.
Finally, we cannot overlook the potential of fungi in mental health. In Argentina, Enzo Tagliazuchi, director of the Laboratory of Consciousness, Culture, and Complexity, is leading research on psilocybin. This is a compound found in certain mushrooms that could help understand the neural bases of consciousness and be used in mental health therapies, offering new hope for treating conditions like depression and anxiety.
The Future of Mycelium
These are just a few examples of the uses and potential of fungi. Nowadays, many people around the world are researching, both inside and outside academia, how fungi can help build a fairer and more equitable planet. Transversally, an interesting phenomenon is also emerging: funga is not only becoming an ideal binder for creating more sustainable materials but also a social player that brings people together. Today, fungal communities organize all kinds of events, like fairs, exhibitions, community cultivation workshops, and they organize themselves in cooperatives where knowledge is shared openly, and experiences are exchanged. Thus, mycelium also becomes a metaphor for the connections that unite people around a common purpose.
If we harness the diverse capacities of the fungi kingdom, we can innovate in multiple fields, from construction and environmental remediation to food and mental health. Fungi, with their versatility, offer us the tools to build a future where sustainability and resilience are central.
*The term "funga" is a recent addition to the scientific and environmental world, used to describe fungal species of a particular place or time, just as "flora" and "fauna" are used for plants and animals. Although fungi have been integral to ecosystems for millennia, their crucial role has been underestimated for centuries. Recognizing "funga" as an independent term underscores the importance of fungi in global biodiversity and ecosystem health, a term coined and championed by a group of mycologists who understood that what is not named does not exist.