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UK Designer Grows Clothes From Bacteria

Posted by samzenpus on from the my-shirt-is-sticky dept.

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."

16 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Ew by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    1. Re:Ew by A.+B3ttik · · Score: 4, Funny

      It puts the lotion on the Bacteria...

    2. Re:Ew by naz404 · · Score: 5, Funny

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

      --
      http://www.object404.com
  2. And if they are hydrated again? by DeBaas · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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    1. Re:And if they are hydrated again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

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

    2. Re:And if they are hydrated again? by OzPeter · · Score: 4, Funny

      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!

      --
      I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  3. Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to by fishexe · · Score: 3, Funny

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

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    "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
  4. Wearing living stuff by Massacrifice · · Score: 5, Funny

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

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    -- Home is where you eat your heart out.
  5. Its revenge! by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

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

  6. Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

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    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  7. Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to by daid303 · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  8. Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to by advocate_one · · Score: 3, Funny

    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...

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    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  9. Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to by delinear · · Score: 4, Funny

    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!

  10. Re:Sure you can wear it, but why would you want to by jimbolauski · · Score: 2, Funny

    ,

    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.

    --
    Knowledge = Power
    P= W/t
    t=Money
    Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
  11. Re:when you take antibiotics by insertwackynamehere · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cause they so hot they have FEVERS ohhhhhhhhhhh

  12. Re:edible? by Americano · · Score: 2, Funny

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

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