Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we are joined by David Breslauer, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Bolt Threads. Bolt Threads is a company on a mission to create way better materials for a way better world, developing sustainable solutions for the apparel and beauty industries. With nature as inspiration, Bolt Threads invents and scales credible materials that put us on a path towards a more sustainable future. Bolt Threads is based in Emeryville, Calif. and was a Fast Company Most Innovative company in 2019 and 2018. David leads technology innovation at Bolt, creating and incubating biomaterials for improved consumer products. His obsession with biomaterials began with graduate research on silk during his Bioengineering PhD at UC Berkeley and UCSF. David has an orange belt in Krav Maga and is a great admirer of stencil graffiti. I’m excited to hear from him about all the future of sustainable materials and how Mylo™ – their mycelium material line, will play a leading role.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Microfluidics & Bio-inspiration   
• Biomaterials Past, Present and Future   
• Decision to Create Sustainable Consumer Goods   
• Synchronistic Connections Researching Spider Silk   
• Founding Bolt Threads   
• In Search of Leather, Turning to Mycelium   
• Learning to Work with Mycelium as a Material   
• How to Transform Mycelium into Leather-like Material
• Properties of Mycelium as a Leather Material   
• Scaling Production of Mycelium Leather   
• Reaction from Product Developers and Fashion Houses   
• Future Uses of Mycelium and other Biomaterials   
• Advice for Working in the Field of Biomaterials   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Bolt Threads Website: https://boltthreads.com/   
• Mylo Unleather Website: https://www.mylo-unleather.com/   
• Bolt Threads IG: https://www.instagram.com/boltthreads/   
• Mylo Unleather IG: https://www.instagram.com/mylo_unleather/