Posted March 4, 2015

 

By Seshadri Ramkumar

 

LUBBOCK, Texas – A University of California-Berkeley professor is using molecular biology to synthesize an important dye used to color denim.

 

Professor John Dueber, Department of Bioengineering at Berkeley, understands the natural pathway in indigo plants and trying to mimic the dye synthesis in the laboratory. In nature, a precursor called “indican” that results in the dye is covered by a sugar coating. When the sugar coating is broken, the coloration happens.

 

According to Berkeley’s Bakar Fellows feature, Dueber’s laboratory has identified the enzyme that is responsible for the sugar coating in indigo plants. The researchers plan to synthesis the dye using bacteria. By inserting the gene that is responsible for the sugar coat enzyme and using other additional genes, the indigo precursor can be synthesized without using synthetic precursors. Currently used synthetic raw materials are toxic to aquatic systems and result in polluting the environment.

 

The research is in very early stages and is supported by a five-year grant from the Bakar Fellowship program.

 

Blue jeans has been with us for more than 140 years and co-invented by Levis Strauss and Jacob Davis in 1873.

 

Globally, the denim industry is valued at $60 billion. According to Cotton Incorporated, on average, each U.S. consumer owns seven pairs of jeans.

 

Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar is professor of Countermeasures to Chemical and Biological Threats, Nonwovens & Advanced Materials at Texas Tech.