Sustainable Style for Clean Growth: Innovating Textile Production through Engineering Biology

Summary

Our project is designed to use engineering biology approaches to immediately increase the efficiency of the environmentally friendly manufacturing process of producing this microbial leather. We will work together to engineer bacterial strains and use synthetic biology methods to enable high efficiency use of waste feedstocks, efficient water and nutrient usage, and innovative bio-based treatments for desirable properties, such as colouration, patterns, coatings and additives.

The project tackles four main challenges:

1. Reducing reliance on costly sugars,
2. Integrating colour and pattern during growth,
3. Replacing petrochemical-based additives,
4. Balancing durability with biodegradability.

By doing so, the project supports the UK's net-zero goals and promotes clean growth in fashion, positioning microbial leather as a low-impact, circular, and scalable material for the future.

Northumbria Investigators

Prof Meng Zhang and Dr Paul James

Project partners

Prof Thomas Ellis (Lead) and Prof Koon-Uang Lee,  Imperial College London

Industrial Partners

Colorifix, Modern Synthesis and Brewlab

Funder

BBSRC

Project duration

2years (May 2024 – May 2026)