In South Korea, researchers have coaxed living bacteria to grow, weave, and dye fabrics without the use of oil, plastic or artificial dyes.
The team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology was even able to achieve this in every color of the rainbow.
The work started with Komagataeibacter xylinus, a bacteria known for producing bacterial cellulose. The team then used violaceins to produce the green to purple spectrum and carotenoids used to produce red to yellow.
The bacteria making colors and those producing cellulose disrupted each other’s growth, so the team split the process. For cool tones (blue, purple, green), they let cellulose form first, then added color-producing microbes. For warm tones (red, orange, yellow), they grew and cleaned the cellulose before exposing it to pigment bacteria. These methods produced rainbow-colored cellulose fabrics without separate dyeing or chemicals.
According to KAIST, the study could provide a path forward for greener textiles production.