Natural Colors with Octarine Bio

Strain engineering for violacein production

Today, we’re announcing a multi-stage partnership with Octarine Bio, a synthetic biology company developing new sustainable bio-based ingredients. We’ll work to engineer a strain to produce violacein – a naturally occurring pigment with anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, and UV protective properties.

The vast majority of textiles are still produced with synthetic colors and dyes derived from fossil fuels, a practice that has been linked to negative effects to human health and the environment.

Our expertise in strain engineering presents a significant opportunity for Octarine to introduce new bioactive colors and dyes to the market that address the consumer desires for safer, healthier, and more sustainable alternatives.

Contributing to the sustainability of the fashion industry

Natural colors and dyes constitute a significant and expanding market, especially given the heightened awareness from companies and the concerns of consumers about the harmful effects of conventional manufacturing processes. We are excited to be working with Octarine as we aim to produce a new class of safer, high-performing colors and dyes that will appeal to consumers and companies worldwide.

“We are thrilled to work with Ginkgo to improve the bio-based production process for our tryptophan program, focusing on a class of highly sought after natural colors and dyes in difficult to source color spectra. We see tremendous potential to apply these natural pigments as bio-based dyes, one of the fastest growing categories in the global textile market, and look forward to leveraging the Ginkgo platform to accelerate its development.”

Dr. Nethaji Gallage, Co-founder & CEO at Octarine

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

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