Ep. 136: Biotechnology, Mycelium Materials & The "Art, Science, Society Triad" (feat. Prof. Vera Meyer)

Today on Mushroom Hour we have the privilege of interviewing Professor Vera Meyer from the Technical University of Berlin. Professor Meyer’s career has seen her as a visiting scientist to the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London (2003) and to the department of Fungal Genetics and Metabolomics at Leiden University in the Netherlands (2005 - 2006). In 2008, Professor Meyer was appointed assistant professor for Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology at Leiden University, a position she held for three years. Since 2011, she has been professor at the Institute of Biotechnology and head of its department for Applied and Molecular Microbiology at the Technical University of Berlin. Her scientific work in the field of fungal biotechnology has been published in more than 100 publications. Vera also works as a visual artist, using the pseudonym V. meer. She puts a strong emphasis on sculpting and creating objects from chance finds like forest mushrooms, decaying wood and scrap metal. Inspired by her scientific work with fungi in microbiology, she combines these materials in the sense of a found object. Through her artwork, she wants to enhance the awareness for fungi and their potential in biotechnology and for a sustainable bioeconomy in general.   

TOPICS COVERED:    

• Childhood Fascination with the Invisible   
• Fungal Biotechnology   
• Seeing Fungi as Friends and as Foes   
• Importance of Multi-Disciplinary Approach    
• Open Science Movement   
• Aspergillus niger, Citric Acid and the Origins of Modern Biotechnology    
• Primary and Secondary Metabolism
• Modulating Metabolic Processes of Aspergillus in Making Products   
• Synthetic Biology   
• BioReactor Cultivation & Ecology of a BioReactor   
• Mycelium Materials   
• Building a Mycelium Materials Database   
• Transdisciplinary Collaboration   
• Reconciling Biotechnology with Conservation and the Precautionary Principle   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Vera Meyer Academic Page @ TU Berlin: https://www.tu.berlin/en/vcard/vera.meyer   
• Vera Meyer Art (V.Meer): https://www.v-meer.de/   
• Vera Meyer IG: https://instagram.com/v.meer_/   
• Art Lab Berlin: https://artlaboratory-berlin.org/de/forschung/mind-the-fungi/   
• TU Berlin - Natural Building Lab: https://www.nbl.berlin/   
• "Beauty of the Morbid" Article: https://fungalbiolbiotech.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40694-016-0028-4   
• Aspergillus niger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_niger   
• Fomes fomentarius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomes_fomentarius   
• Macrolepiota procera (AKA Parasol Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrolepiota_procera