Andras Forgacs, how do you produce leather without animals?

Andras Forgacs is founder and CEO of the New York based biotech company Modern Meadow. He and his team – which includes his father Gabor as chief scientist and co-founder – produce leather without killing animals or using oil based raw materials. They genetically modify yeast bacteria to brew collagen, a protein essential to human and animal tissue. In a series of steps this bio-bred protein is refined into artificial leather possessing many of the qualities valued in the natural material. Modern Meadow has acquired 130m$ in Venture Capital and is working on scaling its technology to industrial mass production. Interviewed by Christoph Keese, Andras Forgacs speaks about his company, the emerging and potentially huge market for animal-free meat, dairy and leather as well as about his earlier ventures as a serial entrepreneurs.