{"id":214559,"date":"2025-05-23T05:16:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T10:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/radiotrophic-fungus"},"modified":"2025-05-23T05:16:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T10:16:27","slug":"radiotrophic-fungus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/radiotrophic-fungus","title":{"rendered":"Radiotrophic fungus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/radiotrophic-fungus.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scientists discover fungus species in Chernobyl nuclear zone have mutated to feed on radiation:<\/p>\n<p>Cryptococcus neoformans, discovered at the site in 1991, feeds on radiation through a process called radiosynthesis. Its high levels of melanin absorb harmful radiation and convert it into chemical energy, much like how plants use photosynthesis to create energy.<\/p>\n<p>NASA scientists, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, are now testing melanin extracted from the fungi aboard the International Space Station. \u2019 If successful, this natural shield could protect astronauts and equipment from cosmic rays, a significant challenge for long-term space exploration. \u201cSpace radiation is dangerous and damages matter,\u201d explains researcher Radam\u00e9s J.B. Cordero. \u201cA material like this could shield astronauts and benefit people here on Earth.\u201d This discovery turns a remnant of a nuclear disaster into a potential lifesaver for humanity\u2019s journey into the cosmos.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>\n<b>Radiotrophic fungi<\/b> are <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fungus\" title=\"Fungus\">fungi<\/a> that can perform the hypothetical biological process called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Radiosynthesis_(metabolism)\" title=\"Radiosynthesis (metabolism)\">radiosynthesis<\/a>, which means using <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ionizing_radiation\" title=\"Ionizing radiation\">ionizing radiation<\/a> as an energy source to drive metabolism. It has been claimed that radiotrophic fungi have been found in extreme environments such as in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant\" title=\"Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant\">Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Most radiotrophic fungi use <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Melanin\" title=\"Melanin\">melanin<\/a> in some capacity to survive.<sup id= cite_ref-Dadachova08_1-0 class= reference><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Radiotrophic_fungus#cite_note-Dadachova08-1\"> [ 1 ]<\/a> <\/sup> The process of using radiation and melanin for energy has been termed <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Radiosynthesis_(metabolism)\" title=\"Radiosynthesis (metabolism)\">radiosynthesis<\/a>, and is thought to be analogous to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anaerobic_respiration\" title=\"Anaerobic respiration\">anaerobic respiration<\/a>.<sup id= cite_ref-Shunk20_2-0 class= reference><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Radiotrophic_fungus#cite_note-Shunk20-2\"> [ 2 ]<\/a> <\/sup> However, it is not known if multi-step processes such as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Photosynthesis\" title=\"Photosynthesis\">photosynthesis<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chemosynthesis\" title=\"Chemosynthesis\">chemosynthesis<\/a> are used in radiosynthesis or even if radiosynthesis exists in living organisms.<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/radiotrophic-fungus\">Continue reading \u201cRadiotrophic fungus\u201d | &gt;<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists discover fungus species in Chernobyl nuclear zone have mutated to feed on radiation: Cryptococcus neoformans, discovered at the site in 1991, feeds on radiation through a process called radiosynthesis. Its high levels of melanin absorb harmful radiation and convert it into chemical energy, much like how plants use photosynthesis to create energy. NASA scientists, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19,873,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biological","category-chemistry","category-nuclear-energy","category-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}