Original scientific paper
Genetically engineered/modified fibres for the 21st century textiles and fashion
Vanja Šantek
; PhD student at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb, Croatia
Edita Vujasinović
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
When a journalist asked Steve Jobs what the greatest innovation of the 21st century would be?, he said, "I think the greatest innovation of the 21st century will be the combination of biology and technology" [1]. At that time, almost no one thought that this applied to the textile and fashion industry as well, although genetically engineered (GE) textiles and genetically modified (GM) textile fibres were becoming more and more present in our wardrobes and everyday life. From the early nineties of the last century, when the first ex vitro cultivation of GM cotton was realised, until today, when fibres can be biologically designed, i.e. genetically engineered (GE) according to our needs, GM fibres of plant and animal origin, as well as GE textile fibres of various origins, have become increasingly present as raw materials in the textile and fashion industries, despite numerous controversies surrounding their use. The paper presents an overview of the achievements made in the field of genetically engineered/modified fibres, so far, as well as a review of their use in the context of contemporary thinking on sustainable textiles and fashion.
Keywords
genetically modified fibres, genetically engineered textiles, fashion industry, sustainable textiles
Hrčak ID:
315587
URI
Publication date:
24.3.2024.
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