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Scientists have demonstrated a laboratory method for making loose sand behave more like a cohesive, water-slowing material. Microbes grew cellulose or mycelial fibers through sterilized sand, linking neighboring grains. In the strongest bacterial test, water permeance fell by about sixfold—but that measures flow through the sample, not a sixfold increase in the time crops could go between watering.
What “living sand” is
“Living sand” is the name used for sand whose grains are bound by biological fibers grown in place or inserted as a prefabricated layer. The 2025 study, published in Carbohydrate Polymers (Volume 370, article 124361) on 15 December 2025, tested bacterial nanocellulose and fungal mycelium as natural binders.
The bacterial treatment used Komagataeibacter medellinensis, a cellulose-producing bacterium. Fungal trials used two strains of Schizophyllum commune. Microscopy showed cellulose attached to sand grains and forming bridges to adjacent grains, creating a fiber mesh rather than simply coating the surface.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The researchers used dune sand collected near Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates and standardized laboratory sand for some strength tests. All organisms were grown in sterilized sand supplied with nutrient solutions, so the demonstration does not represent untreated desert soil exposed to natural conditions.
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How the bacterial material was made
Fibers grown inside the sand
- Sand was sterilized and placed in a mold or test column.
- The researchers added the bacterial culture together with water and nutrients.
- Over seven days, the bacteria produced nanocellulose that attached to grains and connected them.
- A roughly 6-centimeter sand column could then be removed from its mold, cut, and immersed in water without falling apart.
Growth was not uniform along the column. The upper section was weaker, an important warning for any future process that would need consistent strength through a large volume of sand.
A prefabricated cellulose layer
In a second configuration, the team grew bacterial-cellulose sheets separately and placed one between layers of sand. The sheet functioned like a biodegradable reinforcing fabric. In a 10-kilogram loading demonstration, the reinforced sand cube deformed less than untreated sand, although the study did not establish a field-scale load rating.
What the six-fold number actually measures
For sand treated with cellulose grown in place, water permeance was approximately six times lower than in untreated sand. Lower permeance means water moved more slowly through the laboratory sample under the test conditions. It does not mean the sand retained water for six times as long, and it does not predict a crop’s watering interval.
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The separately grown sheet produced a different result: permeability was reduced by about 28-fold when the sheet was placed between sand layers. Because this was a different construction, the two figures should not be treated as competing measurements of one material. The sheet created a stronger barrier to through-flow, while the in-situ approach distributed fibers through the sand itself.
| Approach | Fiber placement | Measured water-flow result | Observed behavior |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-situ bacterial nanocellulose | Bacteria grow fibers among the sand grains | Water permeance reduced by about sixfold | Produced an integrated mesh; a roughly 6 cm column remained intact after removal, cutting and immersion |
| Layered bacterial-cellulose sheet | Separately grown sheet inserted between sand layers | Permeability reduced by about 28-fold | Acted as a biodegradable reinforcing fabric; reinforced cube deformed less under a 10 kg loading demonstration |
How much more water the treated sand held
The in-situ bacterial treatment increased the measured water-holding capacity from 20.17% ± 0.43% for untreated control sand to 25.53% ± 0.50%. These are laboratory measurements of the prepared samples. They do not establish how much water would remain available to plant roots, how long the effect would last outdoors, or whether the material would improve agricultural yield.
Why bacteria performed better than fungi in the demonstration
Both types of organisms produced fibers that bound grains. The bacterial cellulose formed a more coherent structure in the tested samples. Fungal specimens were more prone to breaking during removal or cutting, making them comparatively fragile in this preparation.
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That result does not rule out fungal systems. It indicates that the two S. commune strains tested here did not match the bacterial material’s handling robustness under the reported laboratory procedures.
Could living sand make deserts farmable?
Not on the evidence available from this experiment. The study did not grow crops, measure agricultural yield, test root-zone water availability, quantify dust emissions, or expose samples to real desert weather. It also did not establish long-term performance, decomposition rates, ecological effects, or a practical way to treat field-sized areas.
The microbial growth process required controlled water, nutrients and oxygen. Scaling it would therefore involve supplying those inputs through the sand and keeping conditions suitable for the organisms. The authors point to possible nutrient sources in the United Arab Emirates, including sugars from food waste and complex nutrients in green municipal waste, but that is a deployment concept rather than a demonstrated field system.
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For a desert application, researchers would still need to determine:
- how evenly fibers can be grown through thick or wide layers;
- whether the material survives heat, drying, wind, wetting cycles and ultraviolet exposure;
- how quickly the cellulose or mycelium decomposes;
- whether introduced organisms alter local ecosystems;
- how much water, oxygen and nutrient delivery a treatment requires; and
- whether installation costs and maintenance are practical at landscape scale.
Is living sand available to buy?
No commercial product or off-the-shelf treatment was established by this study. Bacterial nanocellulose sheets, fungal inoculants, erosion-control blankets and ordinary soil amendments should not be treated as equivalent products.
The publication records a pending US patent application, US Patent App. 18/645,560, disclosed by Blaise L. Tardy, M-Haidar A. Dali and Mohamed H. Salim. A patent filing is not proof that a product is licensed, manufactured or available for purchase.
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What the researchers say the technology represents
Gustav Nyström, head of Empa’s Cellulose and Wood Materials laboratory, described the result as “a kind of natural composite material.” Blaise Tardy, a professor at Khalifa University, said that deploying the microorganisms “is not science fiction” and cited locally available waste-derived nutrients as a possible resource.
Those statements describe the material’s potential and the availability of possible inputs. The published experiments remain a controlled materials demonstration, not a validated agricultural or desert-restoration system.
The practical takeaway
Living sand is a promising way to biologically reinforce loose granular material. The in-situ bacterial version slowed water flow by about sixfold and showed a measurable increase in laboratory water-holding capacity. A separate cellulose-sheet design slowed flow by about 28-fold and resisted deformation better in a small loading test. Neither result means desert farms can currently be created by treating sand, and neither provides a crop-survival timetable.
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