How microbes could help dye your next pair of blue jeans

Blue jeans are an important part of any outfit. All that denim is made from fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. Humans have been using natural indigo from Indigofera plants for thousands of years. German chemists began selling synthetic versions for industrial use in 1897. Synthetic indigo is used to dye most pairs of jeans.

Estimates of how many jeans are made each year are in the billions. Over 70 thousand tons of indigo dye are made each year. When the dye isn't handled correctly, it can end up being harmful to the environment. An alternative to synthetic indigo could clean up this part of the process.

Huue is a startup in Berkeley, California, that is trying to reverse engineer indigo molecule usingMicrobe and sugar. A product that could drop into existing production processes is still being tested in the R&D phase. Implementation of their creation at scale and expansion to other dyes are the next challenges. We did some tie-dyeing on our own after spending a day in their lab. The solution to a dirty process can be seen in our video.