Funded by the EU

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101071175. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council (EIC). Neither the European Union or EIC can be held responsible for them.

The Furoid Project

The mission of the FUROID initiative is to enable animal-free production of human hair, fur and wool.

The key innovation is the development of continuous and scalable technology, enabling the end of using living animals as a source of fur and wool and dominating the market by 2030. Specifically, there will be a focus on the development of engineered living fur. The fundamental innovation will be reached by using a combination of nanostructured scaffolds (RESPILON), hair/wool/fur organoids (GENEUS), and automated bio-fabrication technologies (BIOFABICS). The ambition of the project is to make significant steps to development products that will deliver a set of unprecedent properties:

  • Animal-free production of fur and wool without environmental, biodiversity and ethical concerns.
  • Gene-encoded traceability system.
  • Novel vacuum-assisted 3D printing technology.
  • Continuous manufacturing using an automated production system Flexible platform for rational design and product optimization.
  • Living human hair follicles for transplantation and treatment of alopecia.
  • Engineered fur and wool textiles for apparel industry without size limitation, delivering unprecedent properties. The project will strengthen the portfolio of engineered living materials by developing scalable and generalizable technology for forming textured materials in roll-to-roll process from mammalian cells.

The FUROID project consortium consists of …

 

BIOFABRICS is a R&D company specialized in the generation and culture of 3D Biotissue Analogues based on decades of academic and industrial experience.

 

GENEUS BIOTECH is a start-up committed to eliminating intensive animal production, waste and pollution through several unique patented technologies based on stem cells and the recycling of keratin from waste materials/fibres.

 

RESPILON partners with many companies from different industries all over the globe that share the vision of creating nanofiber products to protect lives. The company delivers cutting-edge technology and products that add value to the partners’ businesses.