Researchers created a flexible textile from living Cordyceps militaris mycelium that can retain biological activity after fabrication. The fungal sheets can repair damage, grow self-cleaning surfaces, carry biologically produced colors and gain ultraviolet protection from another fungus. A prototype dress showed the material can be cut and sewn, while soil tests found near-complete degradation after 41 days. Most materials stop changing once they leave the factory. A new fungal textile takes almost the opposite approach. Made from the living mycelium of Cordyceps militaris, the flexible material can retain cells capable of renewed growth. It can repair damage, develop water-repelling surfaces and support other microbes that add color or ultraviolet protection. Researchers even cut and sewed the fungal sheets into a prototype dress. The work was led by Zhong Chao at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The researchers designed the material to address a basic limitation of existing mycelium products: manufacturing often kills the fungus. Biofabrication and multifunctional properties of engineered living textiles. The mycelial textile platform combines …