Dinosaur Purse? Scientists Aren’t Buying This T. Rex Leather Claim

Three companies person joined forces to make a caller luxury alternate to accepted leather. That sounds ordinary—except the worldly they’re trying to make is thing but.

On Friday, April 25, originative bureau VML and biotech companies Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. and The Organoid Company announced a “first-of-its-kind” partnership. Their goal: to make a cruelty-free, environmentally friendly, high-quality alternate to accepted leather, purportedly utilizing Tyrannosaurus rex DNA. According to a institution statement, the concern aims to harness “the biology of the past to make the luxury materials of the future.” The drawback is that they haven’t sufficiently explained precisely however they’re going to bash that—and immoderate researchers are precise skeptical.

“Using fossilized T-Rex collagen arsenic a blueprint, the accumulation process volition impact engineering cells with synthetic DNA,” according to the statement. “Unlike different bio-based alternatives, Lab-Grown Leather’s ‘scaffold-free’ attack allows cells to make their ain earthy structure, resulting successful a worldly that is structurally identical to accepted leather.”

Collagen is an abundant protein successful each animals, and provides structural support to muscles, bones, skin, and connective tissues. While researchers person recovered bits of collagen up to 195 cardinal years old from dinosaur fossils and different remains, DNA decays overmuch much rapidly. That means scientists can’t survey dinosaur DNA directly—they person to reconstruct it successful different ways.

VML did not respond to a petition from Gizmodo for clarification connected its process. According to The Times, however, the researchers program to usage artificial quality to make a replica of T. rex collagen from preserved collagen fragments.

Collagen, similar each proteins, is made of amino acids whose sequences are determined by the bid of nucleotide bases successful DNA—the genetic code, oregon a gene’s “instructions” for however to marque a circumstantial protein.

In an email to Gizmodo, Christina Agapakis—a synthetic biologist with a PhD from Harvard Medical School and laminitis of the plan work institution Oscillator—said she believes the researchers mightiness beryllium utilizing the collagen series to enactment backward and reconstruct the DNA that codes for the protein.

Whether oregon not the researchers instrumentality this approach, they program to insert the collagen-building DNA into cells, which will—supposedly—turn into T. rex skin, according to the Lab-Grown Leather website. In insubstantial engineering, scaffolds are materials that supply structural enactment for cells arsenic the insubstantial develops. By increasing without this structure, the companies look to suggest that the last worldly volition beryllium precisely similar earthy leather.

According to Agapakis, researchers person antecedently tried to recreate leather from cells, including a Victimless Leather overgarment prototype from 2004. Because “producing leather astatine immoderate standard from cells has remained stubbornly difficult,” Agapakis said she is excited to spot their results and larn astir the process.

There’s conscionable 1 problem. “You can’t marque leather from collagen,” Mary Higby Schweitzer, a molecular paleontologist from North Carolina State University, told Gizmodo. “Leather is tanned from skin,” she added, which mostly consists of “epithelial tissues. These are made of keratin successful each terrestrial vertebrates.”

More broadly, Schweitzer, who’s not progressive with the project, said that if she was trying to marque dinosaur leather, she wouldn’t commencement with the T. rex, since preserved tegument samples of theropods are highly rare. Specifically, “I wouldn’t commencement with T. rex collagen, which you’ll announcement they didn’t notation however they got that oregon which T. rex it came from,” Schweitzer said. “The thought is benignant of cool, but I don’t deliberation this property merchandise is precise accurate.” To which she added: “It would beryllium incorrect to telephone it T. rex leather.”

Nevertheless, 1 could inactive reason that bio-engineered leather—however it’s made—is amended than accepted leather, an manufacture linked to deforestation and important greenhouse state emissions. But consumers with sustainability successful caput could simply opt for a thrifted handbag, oregon 1 made from recycled material, arsenic Agapakis pointed out. 

Still, the novelty of specified an point appeals to Agapakis. “If I privation thing awesome—in the existent meaning of the word—I’d spell with a lab-grown leather utilizing sequences of collagen from a 68-million-year-old T-Rex insubstantial sample,” she said, adding that specified projects don’t person to beryllium applicable to beryllium worthwhile. “I deliberation there’s a batch much to this than ‘sustainability.'”

The companies program to commencement with manner accessories, past standard up to a luxury flagship merchandise by the extremity of the year. Down the line, they anticipation to bring their alternate leather into different sectors, including the automotive industry.

This latest concern brings a akin project—and controversy—to mind. Last month, biotech institution Colossal Biosciences claimed to person brought backmost extinct dire wolves. The announcement sparked an aggravated debate astir whether the pups are existent dire wolves, oregon conscionable genetically modified grey wolves.

Skepticism is understandably emerging about whether VML, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd., and The Organoid Company’s alternate leather volition genuinely beryllium reconstructed T. rex skin, oregon conscionable dinosaur-inspired lab-grown leather. If anything, some projects bespeak a increasing inclination of companies utilizing subject to legitimize ideas that mightiness person been compelling connected their own—only to beryllium overshadowed by questionable claims.