Jeans are a perennial fashion favorite, with more than 4.5 billion pairs sold every year. But their synthetic indigo dye takes a toll on the environment, contaminating water with toxic chemical runoff. Biotechnology company Huue has specially engineered bacteria that turns natural sugars into indigo-identical dye—without the environmental impact—by mimicking how enzymes in plants create colors. In September, the company partnered with the cell-programming platform Ginkgo Bioworks to scale up production, and plans to start shipping to denim designers by the end of the year. —Aryn Baker
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
- Here’s How Effective the Original Vaccines Are Against Omicron
- The Promise—And Possible Perils—of Editing What We Say Online
- How Trump Survived Decades of Legal Trouble: Deny, Deflect, Delay, and Don't Put Anything in Writing
- Flint Is Still Shaken by its Water Crisis—and Residents Are Experiencing Long-Term Mental-Health Issues
- A Beer Shortage Is Brewing. A Volcano Is Partly to Blame
- How Fasting Can—and Can't—Improve Gut Health
- Cities Keep Enforcing Curfews for Teens, Despite Evidence They Don't Stop Crime
- Joe Manchin’s Red Tape Reform Could Supercharge Renewable Energy in the U.S.
- Column: We Should Talk More About What a Brilliant Actor Marilyn Monroe Was
