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What are scientists growing in a lab that you could soon be wearing?

Answer: leather

Love the look and feel of leather products, but hate the idea that some poor creature had to die for you to have them? There may be a solution coming.

Researchers at Modern Meadow are currently working on lab-grown leather, which is created using microbe cells to produce collagen. The finished product takes around two weeks to grow, according to Mashable, through a process called biofabrication.

The final product is completely engineered — from the sequencing and adjustment of DNA to allowing the leather to materialize and tanning — and results in a nearly indistinguishable finished product. Unlike leather taken from animals, Modern Meadow’s process results in leather with no flaws.

 

Eyragon Eidam is the web editor for Government Technology magazine, after previously serving as assistant news editor and covering such topics as legislation, social media and public safety. He can be reached at eeidam@erepublic.com.