Mushroom Death Suit:
Jae Rhim Lee, an MIT research fellow started to investigate methods to assist natural decomposition of the human body. She was inspired to investigate this after her research into the funeral practices in todays industry. There are many ideas around how to deal with the body at death. Different cultures have refined practices like burial, cremation, endocannibalism, (she advises against becoming a cannibal!), Tibetan Buddhist Celestial Burials, Zoroastrian Funerals etc. However with our current patterns of consumption, our bodies are filled with toxins that leech into the soil when we are buried, or are released into the atmosphere when cremated. Lee mentions that we have 219 known toxic pollutants in our bodies including pesticides and preservatives and heavy metals like lead and mercury.
“I am interested in cultural death denial, and why we are so distanced from our bodies, and especially how death denial leads to funeral practices that harm the environment – using formaldehyde and pink make-up and all that to make your loved one look vibrant and alive, so that you can imagine they’re just sleeping rather than actually dead,” she told New Scientist.
Lee’s began the Infinity Burial Project which is basically an organic cotton onesie like suit with an inner layer of cotton netting infused with mushroom spores. Mushrooms have an extraordinary capacity to break down organic matter and extract and transform soil toxins into less harmful compounds. She is working now with Mycologist Paul Stamets, who refers to mushrooms as ‘master decomposers’ to develop what she calls Infinity Mushrooms trained to do both the decomposition of bodies and the extraction and removal of toxins more effectively. She does this by growing a range of mushrooms that are trained to recognise her particular body by feeding it her own hair and fallen skin – these spores are then embedded in the suit. (to understand this better watch her ted talk)
This is how the mushroom suit would work:
- The fluids of the recently deceased are replaced with an eco-friendly alternative embalming fluid containing a “liquid spore slurry”.
- The outside of the body is applied with a “Decompiculture Makeup” containing “dry mineral makeup and dried mushroom spores and a separate liquid culture medium.”
- Combined with the suit, the spores are activated to grow and start breaking down the body.
The suit is designed to not be buried but simply covered. Whilst most of her tests currently rely on meat she has offers from interested people who would like to donate their bodies to her project and research after they pass.
You can listen to Lee’s TED Talk here
You can listen to Paul Stamets talk on 6 ways mushrooms that can save the world Here