Modern Synthesis Founders Jen Keane and Ben Reeve. Image by Peter Ghobrial.
It goes without saying that the fashion industry is a mammoth polluter. Contemporary consumer and throwaway cultures only perpetuate this further. Finding an alternative to traditional carbon and energy intensive industrial practices is unequivocal. A system that is symbiotic with our planet – not parasitic; a hybrid model that integrates science, technology and design; a zero-waste, closed-loop, circular bioeconomy.
Cue, biodesign: the design movement that works with – and learns from – organic processes that harness life and contribute to a renaissance in natural materials. And, thus, Modern Synthesis: the biomaterial solutions company at the forefront of innovation in advanced textiles and material futures.
Using a bacteria extracted from Kombucha tea, Modern Synthesis is growing material to shape based on exactly what is required. The end goal? To curb fashion industry emissions and displace petro-chemical, plastic and animal based textiles with a range of renewable technical materials.
The London-based platform was founded in 2016 by CSM’s then Material Futures MA student and ex-Adidas designer, Jen Keane, and Imperial College London’s pHD scientist, Ben Reeve. Six years on and Modern Synthesis is a cross-functional team of scientists, engineers, designers and marketeers, situated in a newly developed lab in Balham, south London.
Sleek speaks to co-founder Jen Keane about how the microbial textile platform has grown from a bacterium into a concept and on to make an impact in the real world.
Image by Peter Ghobrial. Image Courtesy of Modern Synthesis.
SLEEK: Science and design are typically assumed to be juxtaposing disciplines. Biodesign hybridises the two.
Jen Keane: It’s only recently that I’ve seen a surge in both sides having an interest in the other, and, as a result, conversation where each discipline is forced to look at their own practice differently. In actual fact, there are a tonne of similarities between science and design. In terms of process, they’re both exploratory with a lot of discovery, yet often follow set steps. I think, if we can continue to find synergy between different practices, we can drive real innovation. With innovation comes creativity, and with creativity comes hope.
S: How would you define biodesign at Modern Synthesis?
JK: Biodesign to us is marrying our current understanding of biology, the natural world and other life forms together with design. There’s different degrees and focuses that you can take within biodesign, but generally it’s designing within the parameters of our ‘understanding of life’ and supporting it.
S: Science is objective and reliant on precision whereas design can be so subjective and free from restraint…
JK: Scientific method is exclusionary, right? You want to limit your variables so that you can test and verify the hypotheses. You’re trying to prove something. Whereas, design can be more of a craft process. Biodesign allows for discovery and innovation through this craft process in a way that is quite different to a traditional scientific route. The craft process in biodesign is very important. The goal isn’t necessarily to figure out one thing but rather to get a sense, tacitly, of what could be which can then, in turn, help to inform scientific endeavours through direction and the formation of a further hypothesis and experimentation.
S: One could argue that biodesign goes beyond practical or experimental endeavour to a realm that is quite philosophical, for example, in terms of technology and society, consumer culture, or how we look at nature. Do you agree?
JK: Definitely. There are a lot of deep rooted psychological biases or social biases that are tied to the way that we approach nature. If you look, historically, at how scientific research has been done as well as at who’s been designing for the majority of history, it’s closely tied to the social and cultural foundations of the time period. So, as we enter new phases and face new challenges in the present and future, it’s important to recognise how interlinked technology and society are. That is where biodesign has done well; lots of biodesigners have done great work exhibiting these interactions and helping people to better understand them.
This Is Grown. Photo by Tom Mannion. Image Courtesy of Modern Synthesis.
S: I’m itching to know more about the process. Am I right in thinking you work with the bacteria K. Rhaeticus to form nanocellulose?
JK: As you mentioned, we use a bacteria called K. Rhaeticus which is isolated from Kombucha tea. It’s essentially a category of bacteria that produce nanocellulose, which is the strongest, finest form of cellulose. Cellulose is the building block of the natural world and the core of biodegradable materials like wood, linen, cotton and paper. So, nature’s already proven that this is an important material in its own circular biosystem.
I originally referred to the ‘This Is Grown’ project as microbial weaving because, if you look under a microscope, the bacteria swim around in a similar fashion to a weaving shuttle to bioprocess the nanocellulose fibre. We then bring the bacterially-grown biofibre to traditional textile processes. So, we have a core textile, or scaffold, made from traditional yarns. You can use pretty much any yarn but what you use and how you create that informs the end material. We’re trying to make it fully cellulosic so that it’s completely biodegradable. A custom CNC machine, or ‘the warp bot’, allows us to design to shape and reduce waste by interacting with the system to create specific designs that the bacteria can form the material around, giving us another element of control. The end product is like a lightweight papery skin that is naturally semi-transparent but can be dyed traditionally, naturally or bacterially.
It really doesn’t look or feel like anything that exists on the market today. It’s this completely new material with unlimited potential, tailored almost from an organism level.
S: It sounds complex.
JK: Yeah, it’s a whole new world [laughs].
S: Tell me about the sneaker you designed.
JK: The sneaker was designed to showcase the potential of these materials. The bacteria has grown the material around the scaffold to form a single upper piece. These bacterial processes enable this ‘design to shape’ concept where we only grow what we need, reducing waste.
S: You launched a follow up project more recently, namely ‘This Is GMO’, which looked at genetically modified bacterial dying.
JK: ‘This Is GMO’ used the same design as for the first shoe but, instead, used a bacteria that has been genetically engineered by scientists at Imperial [College London] to produce Melanin, the natural black pigment found in our skin and hair. The bacteria produce this as they’re growing, meaning the structure and colour are coming from the same organism which is just incredible from a scientific level.
S: Does this reduce the number of manufacturing steps?
JK: Exactly.
S: On the subject of upscale, what does expansion look like in the field of biodesign? Presumably a great deal of space is required for research labs compared to an atelier or studio. Is it a feasible alternative on an industrial scale?
JK: One hundred percent. It’s just going to take some time to make that transition. Space is a challenge; more so at the stage we’re at because there is a baseline or a minimum required to be able to do the research. But, the aim is to integrate as much as possible into existing infrastructure and align resources so that we don’t have to completely overhaul everything. Collaboration within the industry will enable the future.
S: When the science is set, can production take place in a lower maintenance environment or will it be restricted to a lab due to being bacterial?
JK: It feels very foreign now but the reality is, we already have industrial scale food production which is very similar. The bacteria we use from Kombucha is already used to produce medical materials and food substances in enormous quantities. So, what we’re looking at is more food grade level production. That being said, of course, certain things will need to be contained.
S: What are the biggest challenges Modern Synthesis faces?
JK: The race against time. A lot of folks in our space, including us, are motivated by trying to make a difference for the environment by creating new material systems that don’t harm the earth as much as they do now. The reality is, we don’t have that much time so it’s often a matter of how we can make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time.
Expectation, also. Consumer culture and technology have meant that the public are used to seeing things happen at the tap of a finger. People expect great new things to come about overnight. But, the truth is, real positive innovation takes time.
Image Courtesy of Modern Synthesis.
S: How has the wider fashion industry responded as of yet? And, how would you dispel misconception and scepticism surrounding bacterially-grown garments?
JK: We’ve had great support from the fashion industry. The desire for new materials and sustainable technologies is definitely there. What we need is a big shift in creation mentality from the design community, and within fashion, to think long term and educate on material futures.
And, regarding the second part of your question. Firstly, all bacteria would be washed out of the material before wear. That’s the distinction a lot of people don’t realise, it’s just the way we create our fabric. Secondly, we’re covered in – and full of – bacteria anyway and most of them do wonderful things for us. Think of yoghurt, cheese, probiotics. There are good bacteria and bad bacteria. I think it’s just reminding people that we’re already there and about getting more comfortable with it.
S: Why is it so important that we look to nature’s blueprint for design processes moving forward?
JK: For a long time, we’ve taken a very human-centric approach to our planet and our way of life. Now, we’re transitioning towards the realisation that we need to be more in tune with the rest of the species we share this planet with. How we build our systems; maintain our quality of life; and maintain society and the economy, all needs to be integrated into those natural systems. There’s no other way to achieve true sustainability. What we’re talking about is circularity and building a bioeconomy where we are still able to have healthy, exciting economies that are built and created in a circular manner with resources that can be regenerated rather than extracted. We need to make sure that technologies are developed to benefit all sides of this planet – human and non human. Home is always worth it, right?
S: Ecological benevolence, not exploitation.
JK: Humans are interesting creatures. What keeps me going is the spirit of the younger generation who have really taken on this space with excitement, openness, optimism and activism. It’s really inspiring and I hope that it continues.