News
Waste to value: microbial electrochemical technologies for sustainable water, material, and energy cycles
What if wastewater treatment plants could do much more than clean water? Our latest publication explores how microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) could transform wastewater from a waste stream into a valuable source of clean water, energy...
Where design meets biology: an interview on SPIKA, a prototype for microbe-mediated architecture
Recently, researchers Ezgi Öğün Ramalhete, Işıl Yücel, and Jorge Barriuso were interviewed for a Q&A article in Nature Communications Biology about SPIKA, our prototype for microbe-mediated architecture, exhibited at the 23rd Milan Triennale 2025.
In the interview, they share what drew them to the project, the challenges of working at the intersection of microbiology, and design architecture, and what they learned from the public’s response.
Integrating electroactive microorganisms into active soil management strategies
Our partners at Sony CSL Paris, alongside Lenon Romano Modesto and Rachel Armstrong, recently published a review in Frontiers in Microbiology exploring how electroactive microorganisms (EAMs) could be integrated into agricultural soils as living, programmable components of regenerative farming systems.
NOGAN Task Force Uncovers Syndicate in “Impossible” Case: Was it Crime or the Future of Farming?
Following a mysterious, two-year surge of fresh fruits and vegetables on the black market, the NOGAN Task Force has unraveled a highly organised group of illegal growers. The suspects...
Online SPIKA Workshop at the Future Tech Week 2026, Jan 22
On January 22, an online workshop focusing on SPIKA will take place as part of Future Tech Week 2026. Running from January 19 to January 22, this series of webinars, workshops, panels, and networking sessions aims to unite Europe’s deep-tech...
Monstrous matter: The microbial foundations for a living planet
How might we respond to the climate crisis if we stopped thinking of matter as passive and began to see it as an active participant in shaping life? In her latest paper Rachel Armstrong proposes a new "mythos of matter" that challenges the...
Impact of oxygen availability on Escherichia coli metabolism to produce 2,3-butanediol from acetate
Our partners at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have recently published an exciting study exploring how acetate, a byproduct of CO2 capture and biomass pretreatment, can be used as a sustainable carbon source to produce 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO). With this research, they are finding ways to move away from food-based sugars and toward alternative feedstocks derived from industrial.
From simulation to reality: experimental analysis of a quantum entanglement simulation with slime molds as bioelectronic components
Our partner Biofaction, alongside Zeki Seskir and Eduardo R. Miranda, recently published a study in Frontiers in Soft Matter exploring whether slime mold (Physarum polycephalum) could serve as a biological component to simulate quantum entanglement.
The project was built on the premise that if slime mold behaves like a memristor (a resistor that “remembers” its past electrical charge), it could potentially be used to represent the complex states of quantum bits.
Mi-Hy at the UN World Food Forum 2025
We’re proud to share that our researcher Dr. Lenon Modesto represented the Mi-Hy project last week at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, during the World Food Forum – Flagship Event between October 10th -...