Lab grown leather. Why?

9th August 2023

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Vitrolabs, a company that has discovered a tissue engineering process that can grow cowhide in a lab has just raised $46million in funding for production. This is undoubtedly amazing, but what problem is it solving?

Speaking to Forbes magazine, Vitrolabs’ co-founder Ingvar Helgason compared the process to science fiction and said: “We’re growing real animal hides in a lab and transforming them into leather.”

The company used the funding to move into a 45,000 square foot combined laboratory and manufacturing space.

It’s a very clever thing to do. In very broad terms, a biopsy is performed on a cow and the cells are fed into a bioreactor that is rich in nutrients. Then, over three to four weeks, the cells form tissue resembling animal hide. This can then be made into leather by tanning.

But you have to ask one simple question. Why? Hundreds of millions of cattle hides are thrown away every year. Every single one of them is a by-product of the meat and dairy industry.