Dimitra Stratis-Cullum, biomaterials team leader at the Army Research Laboratory, said at a Defense One event in Washington, D.C. that the Army is studying synthetic biology capabilities for camouflage applications, Defense One reported Monday.
“We want our soldiers to be able to move and not be detected on the battlefield. We don’t want their infrared signature to be detected. There’s a whole host of signatures that we worry about that could allow them to be targeted,†Stratis-Cullum noted.
T’Jae Gibson Ellis, the Army’s spokesperson, added that synthetic biology is one of ARL’s top research priorities that will build on previous developments under the Living Materials program. According to Startis-Cullum, the lab will focus on studying capabilities for soldier survivability rather than modifying warfigters’ genetic makeup.
“Now we can actually take from nature, so if we could do that in a scalable, stable, limited way, we could bring new concepts to concealment,†she said.