Lab-grown Leather
We can now make leather without animals, leather grown using biotechnology is about to hit the catwalk.
Let’s face it, leathermaking has been a nasty business. Traditional leather production leaves behind a troublesome trail of environmental pollution, brutal animal suffering, and, often, disturbing human-rights violations. On the other hand: leather, prized for its durability and flexibility, is a business worth $100 billion a year.
These contrasting facts make leather a tempting target for tech disruption. The most advanced practitioner of the still-experimental craft of growing leather is NJ based Modern Meadow, which developed genetically edited ordinary cells that can produce networks of fibers made of collagen. These fibrous sheets are then processed into a “hide” that can be tanned and sculpted into various products. The material is biologically comparable to that of the backs of animals.
Modern Meadow has raised more than $50 million from investors and is collaborating with a number of as-yet-unnamed other firms in the clothing, shoe, furniture and automotive industries, hoping to bring the new material to market within 2 years.
Source: The Economist (August 26, 2017) | Image: Laura Pittaccio