Scientists Demonstrate a Living Computer Memory Made from Mushrooms
In a surprising twist on electronics, researchers have built a functioning memristor using the root-like network of shiitake mushrooms. This biological approach swaps conventional silicon and titanate materials for the mycelium—the network of threadlike filaments that enable a fungus to grow and forage. The result is a memory component that can remember its electrical past, a key feature for modern computing, and show potential as a low-cost, sustainable alternative to traditional hardware.
Why Mushrooms? The Case for Fungal Memristors
Memristors are circuit elements whose resistance depends on the history of voltage and current that has passed through them. They behave similarly to synapses in the brain, making them attractive for neuromorphic computing—systems designed to mimic neural networks. Mushrooms, and mycelial networks in general, have long attracted interest because their information transmission mirrors neuronal communication through electrical signals and chemical cues. If scientists can reliably harness these properties, we could see memory devices that are not only compact and scalable but also biodegradable and cheap to produce.
The Experimental Approach
To test the idea, researchers chose shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) for their resilience and stability under stress. They grew nine samples by seeding substrate-filled petri dishes with shiitake spores, then allowed the mycelium to expand until the fungal network covered the surface. After growth, the samples were dried in a well-ventilated area with natural sunlight, a step intended to preserve long-term viability and enable practical testing later on.
With the mushrooms prepared, the team connected electrical probes at multiple points on each specimen. Because different parts of the mycelial network can exhibit distinct electrical properties, the placement of wires affected performance. The researchers then flooded the circuit with controlled electrical currents to observe how the mycelium behaved as a memristor.
Performance and Key Findings
The mushrooms achieved a switching speed of about 5,850 hertz, meaning the device could toggle its state roughly once every 170 microseconds. That translates to a strong performance for the early stages of bio-based memory research, especially when compared to some of the slower, early silicon-based memristors. While still slower than the best commercial solid-state memory today, these results demonstrate a viable, brain-inspired memory mechanism that could improve as the science matures.
One interesting discovery was the relationship between voltage and performance: higher voltages tended to degrade the mushroom’s memristive behavior. The team found a practical workaround—adding more mushrooms in parallel to the circuit helped maintain robust memory responses. This insight points to scalable architectures that could be tuned as needed for different applications.
Implications for the Future of Computing
Though we’re far from a mushroom-powered laptop, the research opens a compelling path toward low-cost, biodegradable computer components. Potential applications span from small wearable devices to space-grade electronics where materials must be light, resilient, and easier to produce in bulk. The idea aligns with broader goals in sustainable technology and neuromorphic design, where computing elements are engineered to resemble the brain’s efficiency and adaptability.
As one of the lead researchers notes, “Everything you’d need to start exploring fungi and computing could be as small as a compost heap and some homemade electronics, or as big as a culturing factory with pre-made templates.” The throughput and stability of these early memristors suggest that fungal-based memory could complement traditional hardware, serving as a low-cost, eco-friendly layer in future computing systems.
What Comes Next?
Experts emphasize that this is an early, exploratory step—not a ready-to-commercialize technology. Future work will aim to refine fabrication methods, improve voltage tolerance, and integrate mycelium-based memristors more seamlessly with other components. If successful, fungal memory could become part of a diverse ecosystem of bio-inspired electronic devices, reducing waste and resource use while expanding the palette of materials available to engineers.
Conclusion
The phrase “the future of computing could be fungal” captures the optimism surrounding these experiments. By harnessing the natural properties of shiitake mycelium, scientists are pushing the boundaries of what materials can do in memory hardware. While it won’t replace silicon overnight, mushroom-based memristors represent a promising convergence of biology and electronics—an eco-friendly step toward memory devices that remember in ways the brain does, with potential benefits for cost, scalability, and sustainability.
