The study “Allomelanin: A Biopolymer of Intrinsic Microporosity” was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on March 5.
Professor Nathan Gianneschi, the Jacob and Rosaline Cohn Professor of Chemistry, discusses this research in the story “‘Fungal ghosts’ protect skin, fabric from toxins, radiation” in Northwestern Now.
“Melanin’s function isn’t fully known all the time and, in all cases,” said Gianneschi, the corresponding author on the study. “It’s certainly a radical scavenger in human skin and protects against UV damage. Now, through synthesis, we’ve happened upon this exciting material that very well may exist in nature. Fungi might make this material to add mechanical strength to their cells, but is porous, allowing nutrients across.”