Glowing like a deep-sea fish, this dress is coated with bacteria. A collaboration between designer Victoria Geaney, 29, and University of Cambridge academics Anton Kan, 29, and Bernardo Pollak, 28, it was created to further research the application of bioluminescent bacteria to fabrics. "It's a different light source - it's biological, it grows and then dies," explains Pollak. "It's an alternative type of technology."
It wasn't initially the intention to create bacterial art. After receiving funding, Pollak and Kan were looking to explore whether these living organisms could be made to grow in unusual environments, which is where Geaney, with her previous experience in conceptual fashion, came in.
Once the dress had been designed, Kan and Pollak experimented with numerous materials (nylon, cotton, wool and felt) and food sources (Marmite was tried at one point), to develop an agar jelly food source of seawater solution with amino acids, carbohydrates and yeast extract. The dress was then dipped into this melted agar solution and dried.
Once gelified, the bacterium, Photobacterium kishitanii 201212X (isolated by Japanese academic Henryk Urbanczyk from a deep-sea fish) was added. The photobacterium will glow for 72 hours after application, depending on the material, concentration and temperature.
Pollak and Kan are now working on harnessing the bioluminescent bacterial genes to evolve them or even implant them in other organisms (think: glowing plants). However, don't expect this dress in your wardrobe any time soon. "I don't like the hype," Pollak says. "We're not thinking about doing what you've seen in San Francisco in the startup world. Right now, it's about the science."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
