Marvellous, magnificent mycelium

Abstract

This issue takes a fascinating look at how fungi might support a more sustainable world. I had no idea that fungi could be used to create materials as a potential alternative to plastic and leather. I was left wondering when the first fungi-grown handbag might hit the market – as it turns out, it happened last year but the £1,995 price tag for the mycelium leather bag from Stella McCartney is a little out of everyday reach just yet. Find out more in ‘Sourcing filamentous fungi for material production’.Of course, fungi play an extremely important role in plant ecosystems, making nutrients available in the soils, and applying this knowledge our crops could help us with sustainable farming practice. The potential application of this is covered in ‘Mycorrhizal fungi and food security’. In truth, when I took this position for The Biochemist I didn’t expect to read so many articles about how biochemistry applications are influencing our food chain for the better but over the past couple of years we’ve had a number of articles on these themes across previous issues, see ‘Protein engineering and plants: the evolution of sustainable agriculture’ from March 2023 and ‘Increasing livestock farming sustainability using genome editing technology’ from June 2022 as two of the most recent examples.Both of the feature articles in this issue demonstrate how biochemistry is an important area to support more sustainable and environmentally conscious world, something I feel very strongly about and a topic we continue to highlight in The Biochemist: see ‘How the secrets of the Black Death give us sustainable meat’ and our entire issue on Sustainability from June 2022.It is wonderful to present the Biochemical Society Award winners for 2024 in this issue too! Congratulations to them all. Please take some time to look at the recipients some of whom have dedicated so much to biochemistry and others that are being recognized at the start of their careers.I am sad that we have two obituaries within this issue of two eminent biochemists, Professor Peter Quinn and Professor Colyn Crane-Robinson, who both had fascinating careers and a dedication to communicating biochemistry. Professor Quinn published over 400 papers and 10 books, and Professor Crane-Robinson delivered talks up until a few months before his death. I am glad The Biochemist offers a place for biochemists to be celebrated and remembered.