Rubber from Mushrooms

Abhishek writes "The Hindustan Times reports that researchers at Gunma University, west of Tokyo, have produced rubber from the chichitake mushroom and the end-product has the advantage of not containing a protein that can cause allergies, according to Hiroshi Mitomo, head of the research team at the university's biological and chemical engineering department. The only obstacle is the high production costs which the scientists wish to conquer pretty soon."

Comments

This is actually awesome news

[multiplexo]

Latex allergies are pretty common, and from talking to the nurses I know can be developed in people who are not initially allergic but who are exposed to latex on a day to day basis (nurses, doctors, prostitutes, etc). So what's the replacement for latex gloves? Nitrile gloves. Unfortunately most of the ones I've seen aren't as flexible as latex so they don't fit as well and tend to tear.