The London-based Natsai Audrey Chieza, who has been labelled a “design futurist”, manages to use bacteria as “coloring machines”. Together with John Ward (University College London), Chieza has been “teaching” bacteria to produce pigment, which is actually one of their metabolic byproducts. She does this by manipulating the composition of their nutrition, or by introducing changes in their incubation temperature, pH levels and growth period.

Chieza developed this technique to prove that living organisms can be a great resource for environmentally friendly materials and protocols.