MAKING BLUE JEANS LESS TOXIC

TAMMY HSU — CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER, HUUE

Killer-looking jeans, unfortunately, also contribute to killing the planet. Chemicals such as formaldehyde and cyanide that are used to make the indigo dye that gives denim its distinctive color are often toxic to workers and destructive to local water sources. Hsu and her team created an eco-friendly, worker-safe bioengineered alternative by programming microbes to mimic the way color compounds occur in nature, using sugar to enzymatically produce the same blue shade as indigo. Huue’s dye can be manufactured in existing factories, making it easily adoptable within the industry. This fall, Huue partnered with biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks to ramp up production and plans to begin shipping dye to designers early next year.