Kind to animals, kind to plants… lab’s ethical fragrance
5 Mar 2023
Scientists funded by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) have turned parfumiers, producing a natural but cruelty free scent in the lab.
The researchers based at the University of Glasgow have created a scent using microbes rather than the usual animal and plant sources.
Their spin-out busines, Scent No. M’s use of non-genetically modified organisms (non-GMO) is claimed to be an industry first and provides a route to more ethical and sustainable industry practice, states co-founder and research fellow Dr Hua Wang.
He said: “Many people don’t realise that even though the fragrances found in perfumes or cleaning and beauty products come from natural sources, they may in fact be derived from animals – such as whales, deer and bees – and plants farmed specifically for the supply chain.
“We saw an opportunity for an alternative which doesn’t rely on depleting natural resources and can instead be developed in a lab. It is still a natural product; it is just a new approach to harvesting aromas.”
The inspiration for the idea came from a conversation about how some people have particularly appealing natural scents, thanks to the reactions of human bacteria.
Essential oils derived from natural or organic sources are already used in scented products, but traditionally derive from animals and their by-products or plants that must be harvested or farmed. Also, the fact many plants are seasonal adds to existing supply chain uncertainty.
IbioIC donated £20,000-worth of funding through its first award at the 2022 Converge Challenge, with advice provided from the centre’s scale up and business development experts to help scale up the project.
Sustainable alternatives for ingredients and materials that go into consumables will be one of the core themes of the 2023 IBioIC conference this month, on 15-16 March.
IbioIC director of business engagement Liz Fletcher commented: “This project is a great example of how lab-based biotechnology could be used to modernise and transform an entire supply chain.
“In Scent No. M’s case especially, it could lead to the production of more fragrances under controlled, reliable environments, offering greater reliability and resilience compared to current methods.”
* IbioIC’s Liz Fletcher outlines the development of the cultured lab meat market in our current issue of Laboratory News magazine here.
