UK Designer Grows Clothes From Bacteria

An anonymous reader writes "Experimental UK designer Suzanne Lee 'grows' clothes from bacteria. She has developed a method for growing clothing from yeast, a pinch of bacteria, and several cups of sweetened green tea. From this microbial soup, fibers begin to sprout and propagate, eventually resulting in thin, wet sheets of bacterial cellulose that can be molded to a dress form. As the sheets dry out, overlapping edges 'felt' together to become fused seams. When all moisture has evaporated, the fibers develop a tight-knit, papyrus-like surface."

Ew

[Culture20]

It looks like something from Warhammer 40K, or a Hannibal Lector movie.

Re:Ew

[A. B3ttik]

It puts the lotion on the Bacteria...

Re:Ew

[naz404]

Support bacteria! It's the only culture some people have!

Re:

[tivoKlr]

I don't mod funny normally, and I used up all my mod points yesterday, but you sir deserve +1 Funny!

Re:

[purpleheart]

hmm. How does it smell? I think I will stick with Kohl's or Jcpenney. I am glad someone is thinking outside the box. But I might as well go wear a rose bush...

Imagine drowning it on Nitrate and

[miknix]

make Nitrocellulose clothing! Perfect clothing for girls featuring instant-undressing, just grab a lighter or move under the sun and watch your clothes disappear while you blink your eyes.

Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to?

[elrous0]

Aside from the novelty, this is basically just paper clothing. And paper doesn't look nearly as nasty of this stuff does. It's an interesting proof of concept, but doesn't strike me as particularly useful. Like hemp clothing, it will probably appeal to some hippie types who will like to be able to say that their clothes are made from green tea. But beyond that, not particularly useful for anything else.

Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to

[fishexe]

Because in the post-apocalyptic future we may not have anything else to make clothing from.

Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to

[elrous0]

If we get to the point where we don't even have paper, I'd say clothing will be the least of our problems.

Personally, all I'll need in the apocalypse are shoulderpads, a mohawk, and a dune-buggy. Shirt and pants are purely optional.

Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to

[daid303]

Burning hot seat combined with no pants sounds like a BAD plan. (Unless you are in that sort of thing)

Re:

[brainboyz]

Because you definitely waste leather on a seat cover during the end-times. It'll be old t-shirts, which don't get nearly as hot. I, for one, welcome the pants and shirtless future (unhealthy fatties won't survive, so no worries about that particular visage).

Re:

[jimbolauski]

,

I, for one, welcome the pants and shirtless future (unhealthy fatties won't survive, so no worries about that particular visage).

Just sunburnt wangs, that sounds like fun.

Re:

[X0563511]

Tanning is a wonderful process you know.

Re:

[fishexe]

Tanning is a wonderful process you know.

Yes, albinos will also go extinct at that point.

Re:

[EdIII]

unhealthy fatties won't survive, so no worries about that particular visage

That depends on how much engineering knowledge they possess. They can be kept in the shade, or undeground with thousands of pigs providing power for the last remaining vestiges of the old civilizations.

Who runs Barter Town bitch? That's right.... I run Barter Town.

Now get me my ham sandwich.

Re:

[famebait]

(Unless you are in that sort of thing)

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to

[advocate_one]

Personally, all I'll need in the apocalypse are shoulderpads, a mohawk, and a dune-buggy. Shirt and pants are purely optional.

ah yes, optional, until you get your nadgers trapped or you're caught up by the short & curlies...

Re:

[spazdor]

nadgers

Re:

[Hurricane78]

Then we will walk in the nude!

I hear it will be quite hot anyway.

In the right climate, clothes are a pointless socially conditioned habit anyway. :)
(At least the women around you have to believe that. :D)

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I think that the general sensation of "lack of novelty" derives from the fact that we've been forcing plants to produce cellulose fibers, then processing them into various sorts of sheet material, since sometime before the advent of recorded history. In most of those cases, we've even been using fusion-driven desalination to water the plants...

Re:

[RDW]

'Except that it's not paper, which is usually made from ground-up trees.'

Usually, but not always. Enjoy:

http://www.elephantdungpaper.com/process.html [elephantdungpaper.com]

Re:

[xenn]

alright then, sometimes grass and other plants too

Re:

[sv_libertarian]

As long as it can be tie dyed, it will have a following among the hippies.

Re:

[locallyunscene]

I'm just amazed that it has a pocket!

Hopefully the appearance can be approved over time and people won't protest the low wages in bacteria "sweat shops"... err, "cytoplasm complexes"?

Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to

[delinear]

I'm just amazed that it has a pocket!

Erm... that's an orifice...do not put your hand in... oh, it seems to like it. Never mind!

Re:

[cerberusss]

And besides that, it looks like the stuff is not dyed. Without color, I really couldn't call this clothing -- at least not in the modern sense of clothing.

Re:

[corinroyal]

Actually, the material takes dyes very easily. Suzanne's work is dyed and protected from microbial degradation by Kakishiburi which is aged, fermented juice of green persimmons, and a traditional Japanese process.

Re:

[skids]

Well, it's not clear from any of the website what the material's properties are like. Just because it's matted cellulose doesn't mean it necessarily has a stiff paper-like constitution.

Unfortunately the website isn't very helpful saying what the properties are now, and what they think they can get them to be.

(BTW, in countries with a hemp fiber industry that actually has gotten to the point of doing steam explosion and cottonization, hemp fabric and blends are not just an enviro-chic product. Much of the

Re:

[Shompol]

It's a bacteria, takes 20 secs to procreate. A few years of selection, and these will grow into costumes, complete with shoes and ascots. Clothing industry will be driven out of business, and will sue the bacteria for copying their clothes...

Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to

[Doc Ruby]

Hemp clothing is for more than just "hippies" (whoever they are). Hemp is a great fiber for textiles, which is why it was used for centuries/millennia. Synthetic fiber corps like Dupont helped create marijuana prohibition because hemp was too competitive with their new products.

Maybe only "hippies" know about that, but the fabric is for everyone. You can't smoke it.

Re:

[fifedrum]

but you can make excellent ropes for drums with it

And if they are hydrated again?

[DeBaas]

If the material is hydrated again, will it become a wet sheet again? That would make for some interesting wet T-Shirt contests....

Cryptex.

[Ukab the Great]

Especially if it's like papyrus and you substitute water for a pitcher of vinegar.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

considering it appears to be translucent when dry, a wet T-Shirt contest with this material seems kind of pointless.

Re:And if they are hydrated again?

[OzPeter]

considering it appears to be translucent when dry, a wet T-Shirt contest with this material seems kind of pointless.

Exactly - thats why you need the cold water - to get the pointy bits to stick out!

Re:

[Toze]

Actually, I think it will turn into a wet paper bag, which evidently some people can't X their way out of, for various values of X.

Prison clothing for incompetents!

Re:

[200_success]

Dry clean only!

Cool

[XPeter]

Now Hollister, Aero, and Abercrombie & Fitch will market the clothing as a "new trend" and sell the shirts for 100$ a pop.

Re:

[Chih]

And when they wash the clothes the first time, they'll disintegrate. O wait, that's no different...

Re:

[Kyont]

One has to assume that it would be accompanied by a viral marketing campaign...

It Puts the lotion on it's....

[realsilly]

.... bacteria? Eeeeewwwwww.

Wearing living stuff

[Massacrifice]

Obviously, fungi-bacteria cellulose clothes is an acquired taste. It grows on you.

Re:

[A. B3ttik]

I dunno, I kinda got sick of it.

Re:

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Obviously, fungi-bacteria cellulose clothes is an acquired taste. It grows on you.

What if it acquires a taste for you?

I wouldn't mind it growing on me, but if it starts nibbling on me . . . .

Re:

[sam0vi]

And what about a whole line of underwear and lingerie garments? Do you think the ladies wont mind that it's made with yeast?

Re:

[rainmouse]

I wonder if its edible.

Re:

[noidentity]

And you can finally literally eat your hat!

carbon nanotubes.

[strack]

call me when they grow some carbon nanotubes from bacteria.

Re:

[deathplaybanjo]

like these? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071207150717.htm [sciencedaily.com]

Its revenge!

[Chrisq]

Revenge at last.... Bacteria have been living in us for millions of years.

Re:

[BKX]

Not really, but it does make an interesting vinegar. I'm quite sure that she made the clothes from the mother of a batch of kombucha [wikipedia.org].

Re:

[jamesh]

You'd have to ask yourself though, why are these hot women taking antibiotics in the first place?

Re:

[insertwackynamehere]

Cause they so hot they have FEVERS ohhhhhhhhhhh

Re:

[level_headed_midwest]

I was thinking more along the lines of "they have chlamydia or gonorrhea"...

.

Re:

[insertwackynamehere]

Vapid cunts right?

Everything I own will be alive!

[easterberry]

I can wear this in my meat house [slashdot.org]. The future is here! and it is hella gross.

Re:

[Chih]

+1 memesplosion

Gimmicky and worthless

[Robotron23]

An earlier post speculated that this clothing is basically useless except to environmentalist types who brag about how their clothes are ultra-green. Nevermind that the non-existant aesthetic would put off most people you encounter; plus its obvious that wearing papery material means that you cannot stay in the rain for long, have to be careful removing and putting on the garment, and can't count on it lasting for long in the face of ordinary wear and tear. All in all, worse even than the thinnest of thin c

Kombucha Klothes!

[Lazaru5]

Yes!

Re:

[Lazaru5]

Interesting??? It was supposed to be funny!

Yuck

[Itninja]

So can this be cleaned, like ever? If not, then it would hardly be considered human clothing. Even the ancients rinsed out their loincloths from time to time.

But then again, one could just grow a new shirt when needed....

And as the season changes...

[Linker3000]

When Summer turns to Autumn, the leaves start falling and the evening nights start to have a little nip in the air, hey presto, a few well-placed sneezes up your arms and your short-sleeved top becomes full-length in the arm department.

Instead of DKNY, show a little biological chic with your NY3 wardrobe.

Looks like Kombucha

[gox]

I used to brew Kombucha [wikipedia.org] tea, and this looks exactly like (and probably is) the dried form of the culture that forms on the surface. I used it to write stuff on, feels really like papyrus.

No, the cat does not, in fact, "got my tongue."

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

UK Designer Grows Clothes From Bacteria

So what? Bobby Fischer started doing this 20 years ago!

Now there's an innovative way to disrobe people

[BangaIorean]

All one needs to do is come up with some microorganism that attacks that kind of bacteria and kills it. Just imagine moving around with a spray gun filled with that microorganism and threatening to spray your adversary with it! Think of the possibilities that it provides to muggers!!!

GoodBye Horses

[OrangeMonkey11]

Buffalo Bill is the first thought that came to mind when i saw the pics of the shirt

Soylent Armani is made out of people!!

[RevWaldo]

IT'S PEOPLE!!

Oh, wait, what? It's made out of cows? Oh, that's cool, never mind...

.

Brilliant

[b4upoo]

Obviously a little dye would make that garment look better. But this is a mind blowing breakthrough in a way. If fabric can be grown it might even be possible to grow cement saturated fabric that could form structures such as homes when soaked with water. Although this work is in its infancy I expect that it will branch out and become an important breakthrough in our society. It is a bit like making the first car. The very first cars were sort of useless but the concept was the beginning of a world wi

hmm, interesting implications

[hypergreatthing]

What would be interesting is if the bacteria can become dormant instead of dying. Then if you get a rip or tear on the clothes you apply some nutrients to the rip and in 24 hours it regrows and fixes itself. Though i'm thinking that's quite a ways away, it would be really neat instead of throwing away clothes like we do now. That or clothes that can grow/shrink with you, or clothes that shed like skin always new.

Re:

[SheeEttin]

Or clothes that feed off sweat, dead skin cells, etc.?

YES! I'd never have to change clothes or shower again!!

Re:

[Jedi Alec]

Oh, that would make it a whole lot better. Think of all those akward restaurant situations?

"Honey, you've got some sauce on your sleeve"

"Yes, it looks like it might be getting a bit chilly so I'm switching to long-sleeve"

Re:

[mxs]

I don't know about you, but I don't throw my clothes away due to some tear or rip. We have plenty of tools at our disposal to actually fix these things.

edible?

[whitroth]

But is it edible? One can see uses for that, ranging from being shipwrecked on a desert island, to late on a hot date....

                    mark

Re:

[Americano]

One can see uses for that, [. . . ] to late on a hot date....

Yes, "one can," provided "one" is not a typical slashdot poster.

I have another process.

[Kaz Kylheku]

Under my design, cellulose is not grown using bacteria, but rather using
plants, such as flax, from which a puffy cotton can be collected.
These fibers can be pulled and spun together to make threads,
using a process that I call, for lack of a better word, spinning.
This thread being thus procured is ready for another process
which I call weaving, on a device called a loom, which creates
a criss-cross grid of threads to form fabric. Fabric can be cut
and assembled together using sewing to make garments.

It's quite

A wearable kombucha SCOBY?

[Mesa MIke]

Sounds slimy to me.

Ha!

[EnsilZah]

I've been doing the reverse for years.

Pried from thee, cold, dead corpse

[bobvious]

Get back to me when they come up with something that doesn't look like it was peeled off of Shakespeare's corpse.

Undies?

[JustABlitheringIdiot]

So if they make underwear out of this stuff and it is still contaminated with yeast in large quantities does anybody else see this being a bad thing?

Unless you own stock in Monistat or cranberry juice companies...

Re:

[morgauxo]

I think it would be the wrong kind of yeast for that. I certainly hope so anyway...