Understanding bacteria is not always easy, especially if you don't have previous experience as a microbiologist or working in a laboratory. But there are some basic things you will need to learn before starting this process.
In the meantime, let me introduce myself. I am Janthinobacterium lividum, a soil‑dwelling microorganism. I grow in the soil, and you can find me especially in cold places. I really like the cold. I can also be found on the back of the red‑backed salamander, because I help her fight a deadly disease. Don't worry, I am not dangerous to humans.
To be more precise, I am a Gram‑negative bacterium found in cold soils and water environments. I produce violacein, a deep purple pigment with natural antimicrobial, antioxidant, and even antitumour properties (Choi et al., 2015; Venil et al., 2025). I do not rely on petrochemicals or heavy metals. Instead, I transform renewable nutrients into colour through my own metabolism, a process that shifts the designer’s role from controller to co‑worker.
If you are lucky, you can access a lab that already works with me; otherwise, you can purchase a fresh strain from a website. It is very important that you work in a Laboratory that has a specific environment, and it is certified as Biosafety level-1.
But, here is the catch: to produce pigment, I need a very specific environment to thrive, and even more specific conditions to produce pigment. That is right, I do not always produce pigment. To do so, I need to feel some kind of stress: lack of food, too much oxygen, light, or a cold shock.
Below you will find a curated collection of resources to help you understand and start working with me: practical protocols, video tutorials, open‑source repositories, key academic references, and ethical reflections from research in biodesign.
Helia Mejía – Feeding Purple (MA thesis, Kolding School of Design, 2026)
Where to buy the bacteria: DSMZ – Janthinobacterium lividum DSM 1522 (official strain info)
Improvement of violacein production using abiotic stresses (Bagoghli et al., 2024)
Bacterial dye protocol for Janthinobacterium Lividum from BioTechLab Spinderihallerne
One og the authors who inspired this work and collaboration with bacteria was Donna Haraway in her book Staying with the Trouble. Making Kin in the Chthulucene, a book that fully describes our epoch as one in which the human and nonhuman are inextricably linked in tentacular practices.
Carole Collet's Designing Our Future Bio-Materiality is a work described by her as a new road map for design emerging out of interdisciplinary research across biology and design.