Super fungi: Can Mushrooms Help Save the World?

Behind the provocative title, the film throws light on the world of mycotechnology, one of the most promising avenues for dealing with the many challenges threatening the modern world. From getting rid of pollution to reducing desertification or improving flows around our infrastructure networks, nothing seems to be able to withstand the amazing powers of fungi. Everybody knows Agaricus bisporus as the defining pizza topping worldwide or Tuber uncinatum, which is best known as the Burgundy truffle. But who has ever heard of Pleurotus ostreatus, a fungus capable of digesting oil spills, or Glomus intraradices, which enables trees to grow in the desert, not to mention Trichoderma reesei, whose powerful enzymes will revolutionize the chemical industry? These fungi – whose names are as impossible to pronounce as they are to memorise – are crucial for future innovation.