Fungi-engineered metal nanoparticles for advanced therapeutics

Growing concern over the environmental toxicity and biomedical risks of conventional physical and chemical nanoparticle synthesis has intensified interest in sustainable routes to metal nanoparticle production. Myconanotechnology, which uses fungi as biological nanofactories, has emerged as a versatile green platform: fungi tolerate high metal concentrations and secrete abundant enzymes, proteins, and polysaccharides that act as reducing, stabilizing, and capping agents. Most existing reviews catalog producer species and nanoparticle types; here we instead integrate synthesis mechanisms, the physicochemical determinants of particle properties, and biomedical performance, and we weigh the strength of evidence behind each application. Antimicrobial and anticancer activities are currently the best supported, although the evidence is dominated by in vitro models, whereas vaccine-adjuvant and biosensing applications remain preliminary and mechanistically underdefined. Across silver, gold, copper, zinc, iron, and selenium systems, fungal biomolecules govern not only metal-ion reduction but also surface chemistry, biocompatibility, and immunological behavior, which distinguishes mycogenic NPs from plant-derived and chemically synthesized counterparts. The main barrier to translation is not a shortage of candidate materials but the absence of standardized, mechanistically informed synthesis and characterization protocols, which prevents batch-to-batch reproducibility and meaningful cross-study comparison. Closing this reproducibility gap, through defined culture conditions, quantitative surface characterization, and harmonized safety testing, is the most critical prerequisite for advancing fungi-engineered nanoparticles toward clinical and industrial use.