Living clothes made from food bacteria? Yeah!

In the prototype called “Second Skin“, the team produced clothes that naturally open slits to allow air to pass through and eliminate sweat, refreshing the person during sports practice. Human body sheds sweat to keep body temperature under control, but normal clothing is a barrier to this process, unlike living clothing.

The fabric consists of three layers, the outer layers being impregnated with bacteria. The crevices cut in the material were arranged according to human body heat maps. Thus, they open up exactly in the parts that most need to be cooled during the exercises. When the skin is dry, the cracks are closed. With the heat and humidity of the body, the bacteria swell and the cracks open.

Bacterial multiplication is done in the laboratory and then printed on fabric using a biological printer. An advantage of living clothing is that it does not require energy and consumes few resources in production. While, for example, the production of electronic motors is done by assembling several parts, the bacterial cells can reproduce themselves and reach up to 10 billion in a single evening.

Other applications of these living textiles are already underway, such as a lamp that opens when the light is on. The potential is huge.

If I had this living fabric, I would make a curtain that opens or closes according to the sun incident on the window. And you, if you had this fabric in your hands, what would you apply it to?

Article originally published on my column Noctula Channel website on 11/26/2015 and published here on 06/23/2022. The texts I wrote and didn’t publish before, I’m publishing now with some additional content, but always preserving the original. A lot has happened in the last few years that have changed the course of my life and this blog. To learn more about this long absence, click here.

Sources: Tangible, Fast Company, Prato Fundo