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Kombucha cultures can be turned into flexible electric circuit boards

The congealed mat of yeast and bacteria cells that forms on top of the brewed drink kombucha could be used to make light, cheap and flexible circuit boards for wearable electronics or even partially living rudimentary computers

By Matthew Sparkes

22 February 2023

The fermented, probiotic tea kombucha

The fermented, probiotic tea kombucha is created by microorganisms that form a mat of organic material

Premyuda Yospim/iStockphoto/Getty Images

A byproduct of making the drink kombucha can be used to create flexible electronic circuits that could be useful for wearable technology or even for making simple computers that are partially alive.

More than 60 types of bacteria and yeast are involved in brewing kombucha from sugared tea – these form a mat of cells on top of the drink. This mat is usually transferred to fresh batches of sweetened tea, where it converts sugars …

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