If you were going to resurrect a creature from the Jurassic period in the modern day, what would folks use it for? If your answer is ‘leather’, you’re just the sort of person VML, The Organoid Company, and Lab-Grown Leather would like to speak to.
What would they say? They’ll probably open by offering you a pair of shoes made from Tyrannosaurus Rex leather, the stated aim of the new partnership between the creative agency, the genomics company, and the biotech firm. This might sound somewhat familiar, since it mirrors the plot of Steven Spielberg/Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. Except for Jeff Goldblum and oversized velociraptors eating everybody.
That’s not Jurassic
Before things get too pedantic, we’re quite aware that the T-Rex dates from the late Cretaceous period. The book and movie aren’t too particular about putting them in their proper place. But Organoid and Lab-Grown Leather are, and they reckon that place is as luggage or shoes or handbags. If they grab a few headlines along the way, so be it.
The companies said, “Using fossilized T-Rex collagen as a blueprint, the production process will involve engineering cells with synthetic DNA, designed by The Organoid Company, which are then integrated into Lab-Grown Leather’s Elemental-X product stream. Unlike other bio-based alternatives, Lab-Grown Leather’s “scaffold-free” approach allows cells to create their own natural structure, resulting in a material that is structurally identical to traditional leather.”
Whether the result substance is actually T-Rex leather is up for debate. It’ll likely prove as realistic a comparison as the Impossible Burger was to grain-fed beef. Since the hype around lab-grown meat has died down, someone needs to step in and fill the gap. Dinosaur leather is as dandy a way to grab folks’ attention as any.
The companies looking to take this Jurassic-sized step into biotechnology hope to release a luxury fashion accessory from their cultured leather product by the end of the year. Following that, they intend to offer the substance to car manufacturers (picture a Lamborghini with a T-Rex leather interior) and other interested parties. T-Rex leather iPhone cases, anyone?
