The production of textile dyes and food colorants can have a big environmental footprint. Biotech startups are rising to the challenge by engineering bacteria, fungi, and algae to sustainably produce natural colors.
Eight years ago, University of Cambridge researcher Jim Ajioka was in Nepal helping to produce a biosensor to detect arsenic in drinking water and was shocked at how poor the water quality was in the region.
“In Kathmandu, all of the textile industry just dumps its waste straight into the water and into the river… there’s almost no regulation,” Ajioka told me. “The other place that I went to was Dhaka in Bangladesh… and again, it’s exactly the same problem.”
While historically many dyes came from natural sources, the first synthetic color, a shade of purple called mauveine, was produced by accident in 1856 using petrochemical techniques. Now, around 99% of dyes come from petroleum and fossil fuel sources because they are generally quicker, easier, and cheaper to produce than natural dyes.
Seeing the impact of the fashion industry on the water in Nepal and Bangladesh inspired Ajioka and his colleague Orr Yarkoni to found Colorifix. This UK-based biotech company focuses on creating sustainable fabric dyes by genetically modifying microbes to produce a variety of natural pigments.
Around 300 million people work in the fashion industry, many of whom are low-paid workers in developing countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. Chemical dyes used in the industry are often toxic. Not only do they come from unsustainable sources, but many workers are at increased risk for skin diseases and cancer from regular exposure to these dyes
