Black mushroom from Chernobyl grows with radiation and can protect astronauts

This is not science fiction - a black mushroom grows where nothing else survives: directly on the wall of reactor 4 in Chernobyl. The mold is called Cladosporium sphaerospermum and as early as 1997 it was noticed by the team of mycologist Neli Zhdanova. "It was surreal - everywhere concrete, waste, and on them - black minicontinents of mushrooms," she says of her first contact with the plant population in the zone of death.

Scientists quickly notice something strange: this fungus not only withstands the radiation, but also seeks it, grows BEST exactly where the rays are the most. "The fungus behaves like a plant seeking light." The dark color comes from melanin - a pigment that tries to absorb radiation instead of breaking down from it.

Research over the last 20 years shows: with more intense irradiation, Cladosporium grows faster. In the laboratory, radiopharmacologist Ekaterina Dadacheva tested on radioactive cesium. It turns out that the fungus with melanin grows 10% faster than normal, exposed to the same conditions.

Moreover - Dadacheva and her colleague Casadeval believe that melanin can convert radiation into chemical energy, similar to photosynthesis in plants, which uses sunlight. "Melanin captures the radiation and drives cellular reactions," says Casadeval. All this is called radiosynthesis - a new word for biologists.

Although there is still no definitive answer as to whether the fungus really uses radiation as an energy source, its behavior is mysterious. Scientist Niels Averes says simply: "Radiosynthesis must be fully proven, and for now we only see strange biochemical changes in melanin."

What does all this mean for people? Maybe a new protection. That is why in 2018 a sample of Cladosporium went to the International Space Station. The astronauts monitor how the plant behaves - and it grows, and it is 21% faster than the control samples! A very thin layer of mushrooms blocks 2% of the dangerous cosmic radiation - a little, but indicative.

The idea is clear: if the mushrooms can be used as a living, self-healing radiation shield, they will be valuable in future missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Astrobiologist Lynn Rothschild from NASA already imagines self-repairing houses made of mushroom material and walls that repair their cracks themselves and absorb harmful radiation.

Why does it work? There is still no exact mechanism, but scientists think that the battle with radiation is recorded in the cellular code of Cladosporium. Perhaps its resistance will help for new technologies, new treatments, or at least will give more answers how life survives when the environment seems impossible to survive.