burnished by a grant from the us. environmental protection agency, associate professor,young-a lee and her team are growing vats of gel-like film composed of cellulose fiber, a byproduct of the same symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast (abbreviated scoby) found in another of the world's popular "live culture" foods: kombucha. once harvested and dried, the resulting material has a look and feel much like leather. the fibres are 100 percent biodegradable, they also foster a cradle-to-cradle cycle of reuse and regeneration that leaves behind virtually zero waste. however, this material takes a long time to grow about three to four weeks under lab-controlled conditions. hence mass production is an issue. in addition, tests revealed that moisture absorption from the air softens this material makes it less durable. researchers also discovered that cold conditions make it brittle.