Fungal Frontiers in (Bio)sensing

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology and Biosensing
• Mycology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Filamentous fungi possess unique traits like secretion, material formation, and bioelectrical activity.
• These fungi are emerging as adaptable platforms for developing sophisticated biosensing technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically review recent advancements in fungal-based sensing over the past five years.
• To explore fungal applications across molecular, material, computational, and ecological domains.
• To identify challenges and future directions in fungal biosensor development.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent scientific literature focusing on fungal biosensing.
• Analysis of developments in secretome-derived biomolecules, mycogenic nanomaterials, and mycelium-based living materials.
• Examination of fungal electrophysiology and computational approaches for sensing.

Main Results:

• Fungal systems demonstrate enhanced biosensor sensitivity, selectivity, and sustainability.
• Novel sensing paradigms include unconventional signal transduction, material-integrated sensing, and biological computation.
• Mycelial dynamics and electrical activity offer measurable responses for environmental monitoring and wearable devices.

Conclusions:

• Filamentous fungi present significant potential for next-generation biosensing technologies.
• Integrative approaches combining biology, materials science, electronics, and AI are crucial for future progress.
• Further research is needed to address challenges in reproducibility, stability, and device integration.