A Handbag Made of T. Rex Leather? It’s Up for Sale
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A handbag in Amsterdam is attracting attention for its unusual material: what its creators claim is leather made from lab-grown Tyrannosaurus rex proteins. According to reports, scientists and designers obtained tiny protein fragments from T. rex fossils in the United States, inserted them into animal cells to produce collagen, and then turned that collagen into leather, Reuters reports. The finished piece, displayed beneath a T. rex replica at the Art Zoo museum in Amsterdam until May 11, is scheduled for auction with an opening bid exceeding $500,000, according to USA Today.
The handbag is the product of a collaboration between genomic engineering company Organoid, creative agency VML, and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. The CEO of Lab-Grown Leather describes the creation not only as a more environmentally friendly option but also as a “technological upgrade.” Some paleontologists, however, question the claim, noting that dinosaur collagen survives only in small fragments within fossilized bones, not in skin, and therefore cannot reproduce genuine T. rex hide. University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz Jr. adds that the isolated proteins cannot replicate the structural characteristics that make leather what it is. Organoid’s CEO acknowledges the critique but sees it as part of the scientific process, asserting that this could be the closest anyone comes to owning a T. rex-inspired accessory.
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