A fungus most often grows by the extension of the hypha, in a one-dimensional manner. However, multicellular structures can also be formed by aggregations of hyphae and the formation of extracellular polysaccharide matrices in many "higher" fungi (basidiomycetes and ascomycetes). These are analogous to the tissues in animals and plants. Fruiting...

Amoebozoa is the large group containing the slime moulds. If you perhaps remember seeing an Amoeba cell under a microscope in biology lessons at school, you will remember a cell able to transport itself using finger-like extensions. These pseudopodia are characteristic of these organisms, and are powered by the construction and deconstruction...

Psilocybe semilanceata [pictured] and several other species of magic mushrooms are well known for their production of psilocybin, an alkaloid secondary metabolite which when ingested (illegally) results in euphoria, hallucinations, and other short-term intense psychological effects. These effects are mediated by psilocin, a conversion product from...

Mihael Jelečević took pieces of our Really Clever biomaterial to the tannery and came back with these! The material can have customised coatings applied as necessary for product applications - fitting into existing supply chains

Insects of the order Mantodea comprise a large cosmopolitan group of species. They are predatory, and well known for their upright "praying" stance with their long, often barbed forearms adapted for grabbing prey insects. Many species are mimics of leaves and other plant structures. Sexual cannibalism is a widely noted remarkable feature of female...

I was very excited to spot this rare fungus on Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset. It grows on an earthball host, with mycelium growing and occupying the inside of the ball. The earthball itself is an example of a gasteroid (or "stomach") fungus - instead of developing and then ejecting spores from specialised cells (basidia) on an external...

These insects exhibit an extreme trait - long eye stalks - which has arisen via sexual selection by female mate choice. In other words, female stalk-eyed flies are more likely to mate with males possessing longer eye stalks. The trait is sexually dimorphic, with females having shorter eye stalks than males. I was told by my guide in Sabah, Borneo,...

To demonstrate this, we have used a brown roll rim mushroom (Paxillus involutus) we found growing outside our lab to make a piece of material. Being mycorrhizal (engaged in a mutualistic relationship with tree roots), this mushroom has emerged from a mycelium associated with silver birch trees growing nearby.

As the founding scientist of Really Clever, I have set out in the scientific foundations of our company that we should take advantage of all aspects of mycology and biology as a whole, to advance our mission to create sustainable products accessible to all. Fungal-insect interactions are a significant area of research, with relevant potential...