Jalila Essaïdi

Jalila Essaïdi (born 1980) is a Dutch artist and entrepreneur based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Essaïdi is specialized in the fields of modern biotechnology and biological arts (bio-art). She is best known for her work ‘2.6g 329m/s’, also known as ‘Bulletproof Skin’, a project that achieved bioengineered bulletproof human skin. This project combined in vitro human skin with spider silk from genetically modified organisms to create a material that stops a slow-speed bullet, yet is pierced by one fired at normal speed.
Her more recent project, 'Mestic®', is a bioplastic directly derived from manure. The overarching goal of this solution for the excess manure problem is to create a circular economy with cow manure, therefore allowing the agricultural sector to adhere to (inter)national policies while still making it possible for them to keep their investment (cows) and grow. It also generates new sustainable raw materials that can be used by the manufacturing industry.
Essaidi is director of Inspidere B.V., a biotech company based in Brainport region Eindhoven In 2011 Essaïdi founded the BioArt Laboratories Foundation, a foundation that offers citizens access to a creative hybrid laboratory and the tools and knowledge of the life sciences.