Helion: self repairing abilities

I’m testing different batches of Helion, a living textile made from just sunlight and air. Its basis is a type of photosynthetic bacterium called cyanobacterium, the filaments of which have a unique and “intelligent” self-weaving activity.

Helion 14 under the microscope. Demonstrating the “intelligent” and self-weaving properties of its filaments.

I was working with it the other today, growing it in small vats, when I accidentally knocked a bottle onto the floor. I was pretty pissed off by this as the mat of Helion, that had taken a few weeks to grow, had fragmented into bits forming a green and filamentous soup. However, when I returned to the lab about 40 minutes later, the mat had some how and almost miraculously reformed itself, as if it had never been disturbed. Here is a quick experiment that I conducted afterwards to confirm this observation and it really does repair itself. Below are images of Helion 14 before shaking and then after.

The bacterium has a unique type of self-organising multicellular behaviour that is able to repair itself after major destruction, and seems pre-progammed to form biofilms and mats.