Currently, most cases of organ failure or severe injury are treated with organ transplants. However, considering both the lack of available donors and occurrences of organ injury and transplant failure, there is a need for alternative solutions. Tissue engineering attempts a better solution. There are two main types of tissue engineering: seeding a scaffold with human cells or implanting healthy cells into failing tissue. This study explores the newly expanding method of creating scaffolds using biomaterials, analyzing the growth of a unique mycelium strain-growth medium combination. 

Mycelium, the vegetative root of fungi, is emerging as a promising alternative to synthetic materials. Mycelium, which is composed of well-organized interconnected fibers, has been shown to be a cost-effective, all-natural bio-scaffold whose properties are tunable based on the strain-substrate combination and the environmental growth conditions. Recent research suggests that the entire fibrous structure can be used as a bioscaffold with just the one-step process of inactivation with an autoclave.

This study uses the one-step process of inactivation with autoclave. The viability of combinations of Lentinula edodes and Pholiota nameko cultured in either Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) or d-glucose enriched PDB was assessed by using scanning electron microscope imaging (SEM) and attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Analysis of the SEM images revealed a wide distribution of pore sizes, but the majority of these strain-medium combinations demonstrated a porosity range with some potential to facilitate cell migration, adhesion, and ECM production. Additionally, the SEM imaging revealed a substance that the mycelium secreted which might provide an explanation for why some samples were much denser or more porous than others. The spectra gathered from the ATR-FTIR spectrometer was almost exactly identical to the spectra of two well documented strains of mycelium, one of which has been shown to be a viable bio-scaffold. Given the tunable properties of mycelium and the cheap cost of growth, mycelium has the potential to become the next go-to material for creating bio scaffolds for tissue engineering.

I was a Finalist at the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair for this research.