Summary

• Handbag made using T. rex collagen unveiled in Amsterdam
• Scientists used protein fragments and genetic engineering
• Experts express scepticism over 'T. Rex leather'

AMSTERDAM, April 2 (Reuters) - Scientists and designers unveiled on Thursday a handbag made with collagen derived from Tyrannosaurus rex fossils from the U.S. ‌in a unique creation intended to demonstrate the value of laboratory-grown leather.

The teal-coloured bag will be displayed on a rock in a cage under a replica of a T. rex at Amsterdam's Art Zoo museum until May 11 after which it will be auctioned, with a reported starting price of more than half a million dollars.

Scientists behind the initiative said the material was ⁠developed using ancient protein fragments extracted from dinosaur remains that were inserted into an unidentified animal's cell to produce collagen that was turned into leather.

"There were a lot of technical challenges," said Thomas Mitchell, CEO of The Organoid Company, one of three companies behind the so-called "T. rex leather" bag.

Genomic engineering firm Organoid and creative agency VML, another of the firms behind the project, previously collaborated on creating a giant meatball in 2023 by combining the DNA of a woolly mammoth with sheep cells.

Che Connon, CEO of Lab‑Grown Leather Ltd. that worked on producing the leather for the handbag from the engineered collagen, said the T. ‌Rex ⁠origin gave it extra "oomph".

"It's not just about a green alternative to leather, it's a technological upgrade," Connon said of lab-grown leather.

...read more at reuters.com