Mycoelectronics: Bioprinted living fungal bioelectronics for artificial sensation

Clinical Snapshot

Key Findings

• P Value: Not reported

• Effect Size: Not reported in abstract; quantitative conductivity change magnitudes not provided

• Primary Outcome: Demonstration of thermoresponsive electrical conductivity changes in bioprinted living fungal mycelium networks, mediated by heat-induced vacuole remodeling and ionic transport modulation

• Nnt Or Sensitivity: Not applicable to this proof-of-concept study; no sensitivity, specificity, NNT, or hazard ratio reported. Sensor response speed described qualitatively as 'rapid' but no numerical response time (e.g., milliseconds) provided in abstract

• Confidence Interval: Not reported

Clinical Application

Feasibility in clinical or real-world settings is unestablished. Key barriers include: maintenance of living fungal cultures in non-laboratory environments, biosafety certification for skin-contact fungal devices, sterilisation incompatibility of living organisms, regulatory approval pathways for biohybrid medical devices, and manufacturing scale-up from bench to commercial production. The bioprinting approach is a positive feasibility signal for scalability. In the Australian context, any wearable device incorporating living fungal organisms would require TGA evaluation under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 as a medical device, with specific consideration of biological safety under ISO 10993. The use of living microorganisms in consumer or clinical products may also engage the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) if genetic modification is involved. The RACGP has no current guidelines relevant to fungal bioelectronics. Potential agricultural monitoring applications are relevant to Australian precision agriculture and could engage the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) or state biosecurity frameworks if living fungal material is deployed in field settings. PBS listing is not applicable at this stage. Australian researchers at institutions such as the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology may find this work relevant to national synthetic biology strategy. Not yet applicable to any defined clinical population. Potential future populations include patients requiring continuous wearable thermal monitoring (e.g., peripheral vascular disease, diabetic neuropathy, burn wound management), robotic prosthetics requiring artificial sensation, and precision agriculture operators. All applications remain speculative at current technology readiness level.

Abstract

The intelligence of the human biological system is enabled by the highly distributed sensing receptors on soft skin that can distinguish various stimulations or environmental cues, thus establishing the fundamental logic of sensing and physiological regulation or response. To replicate biological perception, biohybrid systems integrating living organisms with electronics have been developed to sense environmental cues. However, current eukaryote-based biohybrids face slow growth, strict culture needs, and short lifespans, limiting real-world use. Here, we introduce fungi-based printable "Mycoelectronics" which are created by additive bioprinting of living fungal mycelium networks onto stretchable electronics, as a practical living thermoresponsive sensory platform. This mycoelectronics approach leverages fung's capabilities for rapid biological responsiveness, cultivability with exponential growth, stability and self-healing in ambient conditions, bioprintability for scalable manufacturing, and mechanical flexibility for seamless integration with soft electronics. We show that the thermal responsiveness of the fungal network arises from intrinsic cellular processes-specifically, heat-induced vacuole remodeling and fusion, which modulate ionic transport and thus the electrical conductivity of the mycelial cells and networks, enabling a rapid response. By bridging the gap between cell biology and soft electronics, the mycoelectronics device, with a living mycelial network, functions as a thermal sensation system with rapid response and intrinsic self-healing properties, autonomously restoring sensing capabilities after damage and establishing sensing pathways in hard-to-reach locations. Application demonstrations in environmental and agricultural monitoring and wearable sensing systems for humans and robots highlight the versatility of this living fungal sensor platform, suggesting promising opportunities in healthcare and the environment.

References

1. 1.Cai, Y., Yuan, H., Ronders, C., Mottini, V., Singh, K., Xing, L., Singh, I., Fu, D., Zhao, K., Heller, L., Nguyen, K., Waller, B., Wang, T., Bonito, G., & Li, J. (2026). Mycoelectronics: Bioprinted living fungal bioelectronics for artificial sensation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2530456123