A "living material," made of a natural polymer combined with genetically engineered bacteria, could offer a sustainable and eco-friendly solution to clean pollutants from water. UC San Diego researchers developed their living material using a seaweed-based polymer and bacteria that have been programmed to produce an enzyme that transforms various organic pollutants into harmless compounds. In tests, heir material decontaminated water solutions tainted with a pollutant from textile manufacturing: indigo carmine, a blue dye that is used to color denim.