10/23/13

    Other than check up on my agar plates last week, I also had the chance to put together a bag of growing medium (compost) for the mushrooms to grow on. This is the very first step Ecovative scientists perform when creating their mushroom product. What one does to create this medium is first insert into a sterilized bag a sufficient amount of straw, corn cobs, etc... and on top of that add pure grain spawn on top. Next, one throughly mixes the two ingredients together to fully inoculate the grain. Then the bag is tightly sealed and left to grow.

                  Unlike flowering plants, all mushrooms grow from tiny spores rather than seeds. (Plants that grow from spores are called fungi). Due to the fact that mushrooms have no chlorophyll to obtain nutrients by they must get their nutrients from organic matter in their environment--this is most often called compost, a combination of various materials like corn cobs and straw. This goes back to the point I made in my very first post concerning the eco-friendly production at Ecovative. This company is planet-friendly even in the sense that the ingredients needed to create their products are what many consider "waste." Ecovative uses the surplus of leftover corn cobs, straw, seed hulls, etc... that are left over after harvest season to create their compost for the mushrooms to grow on. A full-grown mushroom will produce many many spores (ie: 16 billion) and they must then be collected in a sterile environment, like the lab Ecovative scientists work in.

 Thus, coming in this past Wednesday, I found the two bags of compost I put together fully cultured. When before the bags looked like a batch of straw compressed together, now it gave off a white appearance, indicating that the fungi had grown as predicted. As shown in the picture to the left, the white mycelia colonized the entire compost--this visible growth of the fungi can be used as an indicator of its life cycle stage and health.

Each week, I advance through the steps Ecovative scientists perform routinely to create their various products and each week I can't wait to see what the next procedure is! I am also really excited to see how my very own Styrofoam-like mushroom packaging product will turn out!

10/16/13: Another day at the Mushroom Factory

         Last Wednesday I finally got to see the results of the agar plate onto which I had transferred the Mycelial Culture. In my previous post, I addressed some concerns in which I feared I may have contaminated a majority of the very plates. However, to both my mentor and my delight, we found that most grew without a mold in sight--only about one or two plates showed traces of bacteria.

   Expanding on last weeks project, the agar media that was used to grow the mycelium is not a fertile ground for growing mushrooms--the fruiting bodies of the fungi that produce spores. However, the mycelium culture grows quite nicely on it and thus the mycelium that grows in petri dishes (like the ones below) can be used only to inoculate a substrate where it can further develop.

As you can see in this picture (to the left), the white mycelium, resulting from the spore placed last week on the fresh agar plate, is now visible. This is perfectly normal and tells us that everything went according to plan. The first signs of mycelial growth gives off a white fuzzy looking appearance --> called rhizomorphic growth. It is a sign that the mycelium will most likely fruit well. Most of the plates were completely colonized as shown by its completely white semblance. As mentioned before, any other abnormal substance, ie: mold, is a clear sign of contamination. (A contaminated plate will never produce mushrooms)

This picture to the left is just the underside view of one plate held to the light. You can see the spore placed that I placed the week before with a sterilized scalpel in the center. The culture grows in a ring-like shape and this is clearly shown in the very picture. Had I been here more often than just once a week, the normal procedure would be to note the growth of the mycelium by measuring the diameter of the ring formed.

Each week here simply gets more exciting by the week and I can not wait to see what else is in store for me to put my hands on throughout the year!

10/09/13: DAY 1

Last Wednesday, as soon as I arrived to Evocative, my mentor put me straight to work. We headed immediately to the lab to make agar plates that the mushrooms grow on. Before entering, I had to completely sterilize myself. To do this, I had to exchange my ugg boots for sanitized crocs, wear a lab coat, put on top of my lab coat clear sleeve covering for each arm, wear gloves, put on a hair net, and to top it all off, I had to wear a face mask. All this to make sure no bacterium contaminates the products. Even before I entered the lab I was already in awe.

The big thing that I learned on last Wednesday was about the very topic of contamination and how to avoid it. Even when working in the laminar flow hood transferring mycelial culture on the cooled agar plates my mentor constantly called me out for waving my arm—which was protected by a lab coat and a protective sleeve over it and misted with an alcoholic solution—over the plate that contained the mycelial culture. She told me that each time I would either have to open and then close right away the petri dish when transferring the culture to a fresh plate or find my own way that does not involve waving back and forth my arm over the colonized plate. Courtney informed that each time she makes plates, she makes at least 20 so that she knows the results she obtains are correct and not because of some particular mutation. On that day, I made about 24 plates and for more than half I was called out for. Tomorrow, I will get to see the results of the culture I transferred and I expect very few to have turned out normally. Most I predict will have soiled and formed a mold-like substance on them. By the end of my stay there, I found myself cut off as my ride had arrived. There were simply an infinite number of things for me to do that my mentor had instructed me to simply cut her off when it is time for me to leave. I can not wait to get back to Ecovative and immerse myself amongst the busy scientists, engineers, designers, and chemists that are too busy to even realize that they’ve missed lunch tomorrow!

10/03/13: My First Mushroom Visit

Last Wednesday, I had my first visit to Ecovative and to my great delight found that it was everything I hoped to find and more.

Upon first entering the doors to the company, I was met with a contract that I was asked to sign, regarding confidentiality of their mushroom productions. They explained to me that it was just in case I don't decide to start a mushroom packaging company of my own that would challenge theirs. :)

My mentor, Courtney Hart a research scientist, showed me around and what I saw behind the double doors took me by surprise. What had just moments ago been an office place filled with computers and desks had transformed into a very spacious and factory-like place. Everywhere I saw there were enormous machines that played a role in the whole mushroom material-making process. One-by-one Courtney explained to me what they were used for and I remember just standing there in awe of everything around me. It was my first time getting to observe the behind-the-scenes workings of a "science company" and what I saw left me open-mouthed and with a broader view about the the applications of the very subject of science in the real world. When last year I was limited to the lab in both my biology class and my internship, here I given full access to much much more.

After the preliminary tour around the factory/company, my mentor showed me the place where I would be spending most of my time: the lab. Here, I found that before entering I would have to change my shoes into sterilized crocs and wear various gears (ie: lab coat, hairnet, etc) to make sure nothing contaminated is brought inside the lab. Courtney explained to me that in this very lab, they grow their home compostable material. Giving me a brief rundown of how the company basically works, she mentioned that Evocative first buys massive tons of leftover agricultural byproducts (ie: corn stalks) and combines them with root structures from mushrooms called mycelium--this which is used as a natural self-assembling glue. The material is then allowed to grow in the dark and left to self assemble into a solid mass. She went on to explain to me that what some scientists do here is that they experiment with different characteristics of the mushroom material they grow. For example, I was able to touch and see one test product that had the texture and strength of wood. Another had the strength and texture of styrofoam--the very product that they set out to replace and vocally speak out against. In fact, if I hadn't been told otherwise, I would have easily believed that the product made from compostable eco-friendly mushroom material was styrofoam itself.

After I confirmed what I had to confirm with my mentor (regarding scheduling and the likes) my time at Ecovative had come to an end for the day but I knew that it was just the beginning. Even though I haven't actually started, I have a good feeling that I will come to love every minute of my time as an intern at this company.