FABRIC: BREWED PROTEIN™

Daniel Meyer is Head of Global Corporate Planning for Spiber Inc. At Spiber, Meyer works to maximize the potential of impact for individual actions with Spiber’s protein-based materials. Spiber’s solution to the negligence of Earth’s bounty is their Brewed Protein™. Brewed Protein™ is made using fermented sugars and microbes instead of chemical materials, offering a fiber that contributes to sustainable living while maintaining convenience and utility. Spider’s goal is to tap into the many natural proteins of the world—to harness the power of nature’s materials that have had billions of years to evolve into strong ingredients. One of the materials Spiber uses is spider silk, but as Meyer explains, “Spider silk is just one example of the literal multitude of natural proteins in nature that have pretty incredible properties…Think about the proteins that make up the Water Bear—which [is] this little organism that looks really cute under the microscope, and it can survive in the vacuum of space. It can survive in these crazy environments. What must be the proteins that make up an organism like that? Or the resilin proteins in the back legs of a grasshopper that allow it to store so much energy in its legs before it jumps many times its own height? And the list goes on and on and on”. As Meyer notes, natural proteins are abundant in their availability and potency, and it is Spiber’s goal to work within this opportunity. Spiber combines the natural produce of the Earth with progressive biotechnology, and Meyer is excited to be part of a platform so dedicated to sustainable progress.