Tissue Culture's "Victimless" Leather Jacket
by TreeHugger on 11.10.04
We're not sure if this is cool or disgusting, but here it is: a "living" jacket grown from mouse and human bone cells. The cells used, which are applied to a biodegradeable polymer base, come from "immortalized" cell lines--i.e., cells that divide and multiply forever once they are removed from an animal or human host (without harm or hurt); they are a renewable resource, if you will. The goal of the "semi-living" jacket...
is to create "victimless" leather. Currently, the jacket is still so tiny (it's about 2 inches high and 1-and-a-half inches wide) it could only fit a mouse. It's creators, however, think it's weird that the general public might be grossed out, even though the jacket is made without hurting any animals at all. "...People were disturbed by our ethics of using living cells to grow living fabric, while the use of leather obtained from animals seems to be accepted without any concern for the well-being of the animals from which the skin has been removed." We've seen the PETA videos and we see the irony. But still, it is a little freaky deaky, dontcha think? Via Wired News ::The Tissue Culture & Art Project [by MO]
But think of the energy expenditure!