So as a fashion designer, I've always tended to think of materials something like this, or this, or maybe this. But then I met a biologist, and now I think of materials like this -- green tea, sugar, a few microbes and a little time. I'm essentially using a kombucha recipe, which is a symbiotic mix of bacteria, yeasts and other micro-organisms, which spin cellulose in a fermentation process. Over time, these tiny threads form in the liquid into layers and produce a mat on the surface.
Kao modni dizajner, oduvek sam imala sklonost da o materijalima razmišljam nekako na ovaj način, ili ovako, ili možda ovako. Ali onda sam upoznala jednog biologa, i sada o materijalima razmišljam na ovaj način - zeleni čaj, šećer, nekoliko vrsta mikroba i malo vremena. U suštini ja koristim recept za uspostvljanje kulture kombuha, a to je simbioza između određenih bakterija, kvasaca i drugih mikroorganizama, koji ispredaju celulozu u toku procesa fermentacije. Tokom vremena, ove majušne niti formiraju slojeve u tečnosti i stvore prekrivač na površini.
So we start by brewing the tea. I brew up to about 30 liters of tea at a time, and then while it's still hot, add a couple of kilos of sugar. We stir this in until it's completely dissolved and then pour it into a growth bath. We need to check that the temperature has cooled to below 30 degrees C. And then we're ready to add the living organism. And along with that, some acetic acid. And once you get this process going, you can actually recycle your previous fermented liquid. We need to maintain an optimum temperature for the growth. And I use a heat mat to sit the bath on and a thermostat to regulate it. And actually, in hot weather, I can just grow it outside. So this is my mini fabric farm.
Dakle, proces počinje kuvanjem čaja. Ja skuvam oko 30 litara čaja odjednom i dok je još uvek vruć, dodam par kilograma šećera. Sve ovo potom mešamo dok se potpuno ne rastvori i onda to izlijemo u kadu za rast. Moramo da proverimo da je temperatura manja od 30 stepeni °C. I tada je sve spremno za ubacivanje živih organizama. I zajedno sa tim, malo sirćetne kiseline. I jednom kada započnete ovaj proces, možete u principu i da reciklirate prethodno fermentisanu tečnost. Moramo da održimo optimalnu temperaturu za rast. Ja koristim električno ćebe koje postavim u kadu i termostatom regulišem temperaturu. I zapravo, kada je toplo vreme, mogu to raditi i napolju. Ovo je moja mala tekstilna farma.
After about three days, the bubbles will appear on the surface of the liquid. So this is telling us that the fermentation is in full swing. And the bacteria are feeding on the sugar nutrients in the liquid. So they're spinning these tiny nano fibers of pure cellulose. And they're sticking together, forming layers and giving us a sheet on the surface. After about two to three weeks, we're looking at something which is about an inch in thickness. So the bath on the left is after five days, and on the right, after 10. And this is a static culture. You don't have to do anything to it; you just literally watch it grow. It doesn't need light.
Posle otprilike tri dana, pojavljuju se mehurići na površini tečnosti. I to nam govori da je fermentacija u punom jeku. I bakterije se hrane sastojcima šećera u tečnosti. Dakle, one predu ova tanka nano-vlakna čiste celuloze. I vlakna su pirljubljena jedna uz drugo, formirajući slojeve i daju nam jedan sloj na površini. Posle otprilike dve do tri nedelje, gledamo u nešto što je debelo oko 2.5 centimetra. Kupka sa leve strane je proizvod pet dana fermentacije, a sa desne, vidimo proizvod 10 dana rada. Ovo je statična kultura. Ne morate ništa da radite sa njom; bukvalno je gledate kako raste. Ne treba joj svetlost.
And when it's ready to harvest, you take it out of the bath and you wash it in cold, soapy water. At this point, it's really heavy. It's over 90 percent water, so we need to let that evaporate. So I spread it out onto a wooden sheet. Again, you can do that outside and just let it dry in the air. And as it's drying, it's compressing, so what you're left with, depending on the recipe, is something that's either like a really light-weight, transparent paper, or something which is much more like a flexible vegetable leather. And then you can either cut that out and sew it conventionally, or you can use the wet material to form it around a three-dimensional shape. And as it evaporates, it will knit itself together, forming seams.
Kada je spremna za žetvu, izvadite je prosto iz kupke i operete je u hladnoj, sapunjavoj vodi. U ovom trenutku, zaista je teška. Sadrži preko 90 odsto vode i moramo pustiti da ta voda ispari. Ja to raširim na drvenu ploču. To možete raditi i napolju i samo pustite da se osuši na vazduhu. I dok se suši, smanjuje se, i ono što vam ostane, u zavisnosti od recepta, je ili nešto što je zaista lagano, kao providan papir, ili nešto što je više poput fleksibilne biljne kože. Onda to možete ili iseći i šiti na uobičajeni način, ili možete korisiti taj vlažan materijal i staviti ga preko trodimenzionalnog oblika. Dok se suši, samo će se sastaviti, formirajući šavove.
So the color in this jacket is coming purely from green tea. I guess it also looks a little bit like human skin, which intrigues me. Since it's organic, I'm really keen to try and minimize the addition of any chemicals. I can make it change color without using dye by a process of iron oxidation. Using fruit and vegetable staining, create organic patterning. And using indigo, make it anti-microbial. And in fact, cotton would take up to 18 dips in indigo to achieve a color this dark. And because of the super-absorbency of this kind of cellulose, it just takes one, and a really short one at that.
Boja ove jakne dolazi isključivo od zelenog čaja. Mislim da pomalo izgleda kao ljudska koža, što me intrigira. Pošto je organska, ja sam zaista zainteresovana da dovedem do minimuma dodavanje bilo kakvih hemikalija. Mogu da promenim boju bez korišćenja farbe uz pomoć oksidacije gvožđa. Koristeći voćne i biljne boje, može se napraviti organska šara. A korišćenje indiga, čini ga otpornim na mikrobe. Činjenica je da je pamuku potrebno oko 18 potapanja u indigo ne bi li se postigla ovako tamna boja. I zbog super-upijajućih svojstava ove vrste celuloze, potrebno je samo jedno, vrlo kratko potapanje.
What I can't yet do is make it water-resistant. So if I was to walk outside in the rain wearing this dress today, I would immediately start to absorb huge amounts of water. The dress would get really heavy, and eventually the seams would probably fall apart -- leaving me feeling rather naked. Possibly a good performance piece, but definitely not ideal for everyday wear. What I'm looking for is a way to give the material the qualities that I need. So what I want to do is say to a future bug, "Spin me a thread. Align it in this direction. Make it hydrophobic. And while you're at it, just form it around this 3D shape."
Još uvek ne uspevam da učinim materijal otpornim na vodu. I kada bih danas šetala po kiši noseći ovu haljinu, počela bih da upijam neverovatne količine vode. Haljina bi postala izuzetno teška, i šavovi bi se verovatno razdvojili - ostavivši me nagu. Verovatno odličan komad odeće za scenski nastup, ali definitivno daleko od idealne graderobe za svakodnevicu. Ono sto mene zanima jeste da pronađem način kojim bih mogla da učinim materijal onakvim kakav je meni potreban. Ono što ja želim da uradim jeste da naredim nekoj bubi budućnosti, "Ispleti mi niti, orijentiši ih na ovaj nacin. Učini ih otpornim na vodu. I kada već sve to radiš uradi to koristeći kao kalup ovaj 3D oblik."
Bacterial cellulose is actually already being used for wound healing, and possibly in the future for biocompatible blood vessels, possibly even replacement bone tissue. But with synthetic biology, we can actually imagine engineering this bacterium to produce something that gives us the quality, quantity and shape of material that we desire. Obviously, as a designer, that's really exciting because then I start to think, wow, we could actually imagine growing consumable products.
Celuloza koju proizvode bakterije se već koristi pri lečenju rana, a moguće je da ćemo je u budućnosti koristiti za pravljenje bio-kompatibilnih krvnih sudova, ili čak kao zamenu za tkivo kostiju. Ali, uz pomoć sintetičke biologije, možemo da zamislimo proces u kome ćemo mi napraviti bakteriju koja bi proizvodila određenu stvar tačno određenog kvaliteta, količine i oblika od materijala koji mi želimo. Očigledno, meni su te ideje, kao dizajneru, veoma uzbudljive. Jer ja tada počnem da razmišljam o tome kako bismo mogli da zamislimo u principu uzgajanje potrošnih materijala.
What excites me about using microbes is their efficiency. So we only grow what we need. There's no waste. And in fact, we could make it from a waste stream -- so for example, a waste sugar stream from a food processing plant. Finally, at the end of use, we could biodegrade it naturally along with your vegetable peelings. What I'm not suggesting is that microbial cellulose is going to be a replacement for cotton, leather or other textile materials. But I do think it could be quite a smart and sustainable addition to our increasingly precious natural resources.
Najfascinantnija pojava kod korišćenja mikroba jeste njihova efikasnost. Tako da mi možemo da gajimo samo ono što nam je potrebno. Ne postoji otpad. I u principu, možemo to napraviti i od otpada, na primer, otpad šećera iz fabrike koja proizvodi hranu. Konačno, na kraju svih upotreba proizvodi se raspadaju prirodnim putem zajedno sa vašim otpadom od povrća. Ali ja nikako ne predlažem da će ovaj tip celuloze biti zamena za pamuk, kožu ili druge tekstilne materijale. Ali mislim da poseduje potencijal da bude veoma pametan i održiv dodatak našim sve dragocenijim prirodnim resursima.
Ultimately, maybe it won't even be fashion where we see these microbes have their impact. We could, for example, imagine growing a lamp, a chair, a car or maybe even a house. So I guess what my question to you is: in the future, what would you choose to grow? Thank you very much.
Na kraju krajeva, možda nećemo baš u svetu mode videti najveći doprinos ovih mikroba. Možemo, na primer, zamisliti uzgajanje lampe, stolice, automobila ili možda čak i kuće. Tako da je pitanje koje ja vama želim da postavim sledeće: šta biste vi u budućnosti izabrali da gajite? Hvala vam puno.
(Applause) Bruno Giussani: Suzanne, just a curiosity, what you're wearing is not random. (Suzanne Lee: No.) This is one of the jackets you grew?
(Aplauz) Bruno Đijuzani: Suzan, samo trenutak, ovo što Vi imate na sebi sada nije slučajnost. Suzan Li: nije. Ovo je jedna od jakni koju ste vi uzgojili?
SL: Yes, it is. It's probably -- part of the project's still in process because this one is actually biodegrading in front of your eyes. (Laughter) It's absorbing my sweat, and it's feeding on it.
SL: Da, jeste. Verovatno je - deo projekta i dalje u toku obzirom da se ova jakna raspada baš sada, pred vašim očima. (Smeh) Apsorbuje sada moj znoj i hrani se njime.
BG: Okay, so we'll let you go and save it, and rescue it. Suzanne Lee. (SL: Thank you.)
BG: U redu, pustiću te sada da odeš i sačuvaš je, spaseš je. Suzan Li: hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)