MINERALIVE · Mineralised Photosynthetic Fungal Engineered Living Materials

MINERALIVE will grow a new class of self-sustaining, climate-resilient Engineered Living Materials by coupling filamentous fungi with photosynthetic cyanobacteria. The cyanobacterium uses light energy and CO2 to carry out photosynthesis, producing oxygen and organic carbon compounds; the fungus grows a structural mycelial matrix that hosts cyanobacteria. Under light and with a calcium supply, the cyanobacterium forms a thin calcium carbonate shell that stiffens and shields the living mycelial scaffold. My core idea is that mutual feeding plus in-situ mineralisation can deliver materials that keep themselves alive, last longer, and repair their damage. I will first build a stable co-cultivation by tuning light, nutrients, timing and inoculum ratios, and by tracking how the partners share resources and survive. Next, I will turn the multi-kingdom consortium into manufacturable sheets grown at the air–liquid interface, compare different ways of introducing the partners, check how evenly they distribute through the sheet, and measure strength. Finally, I will program the mineral shell by varying calcium, pH and illumination to control where and how fast the carbonate forms. Then test gains in stiffness, moisture buffering and UV resistance, and show that small cracks can close after re-wetting. I will combine microbiology and photophysiology, materials science and mechanics, and bioprocess/chemical engineering, coupled with an architectural vision for subsequent application and real-world requirements. The main advance of my project is an “ELM-within-an-ELM”: a living fungal scaffold that both hosts a photosynthetic organism and grows its own protective shell. I will be supervised by Dr. Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam (TU Delft, Bionanoscience). Immersion in her expertise on photosynthetic living materials and microbially induced mineralisation will precisely complement my strengths in fungal materials, accelerating my path to independence.