colorant

The latest initiative comes more than three decades after the colorant was barred from cosmetics and non-oral medications due to potentially causing cancer.

The ultra-thin colorant is around two microns thick, and although less reflective, it's visibly blue and reflects UV well, possibly paving the way for new colorant methods.

"It shows that nature has evolved to use a really neat trick, an ultrathin layer for an important colorant," added Rox.

In 2010, she and others received a patent in the United States for a “blue colorant derived from Genipa americana fruit.”

Ironically, although the goal was to create a natural colorant, it could be patented only because the polymer itself is not found in nature and requires human intervention to create—such as painting it on skin or mixing it with glycine.