Rooting for You

Deep underground, bargains are made between living things. Symbiotic relationships allow fungi to weave their whisker-like hyphae among the roots of plants. This is mutually beneficial: the fungus is rewarded with nutrients while expanding the plant’s thirsty root system. But this biological bonding might benefit us too. Here, researchers grow a plant in a pit of sandy silica nanoparticles. Its roots burrow tunnels in the particles which then harden after a blast of extreme heat, a process known as sintering which leaves a network of tiny channels behind in the transformed glass. A blue liquid is sucked through the tunnels via capillary action, similar to how chemicals move into and around our tissues. Such techniques might allow tissue engineers to explore new designs for microfluidic devices, using plants and fungi as tiny biodegradable scaffolds.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

Website

• Clip from a video from work by Tetsuro Koga, Shota Nakashima & Fujio Tsumori
• Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Scientific Reports, September 2024