Living materials such as bone, wood or fungi have the ability to adapt to their environment. They can renew, strengthen and even heal themselves when conditions demand it. Associate Professor of Aerospace Structures and Materials Dr Kunal Masania investigates how to apply this exceptional adaptability from Nature into functional materials, for example for use in aerospace. In the article in Nature Materials, Masania and André Studart from ETH Zurich describe how they can make these living functional materials using 3D printing technology and adding a network of fungal threads.