Scientists Spin Spidery Silk

Image:©Sean O’Neill

Few things appear as delicate as a spider’s web, each gossamer strand one-tenth the width of a human hair. Yet pound for pound, the sturdiest spider silks are stronger than steel and stretchier than nylon. With such remarkable properties, it’s no wonder that researchers have made numerous attempts to synthesize spider silk for industrial and medical applications. (Efforts to farm the arachnids have failed as a result of their territorial nature.) Indeed, in the words of one scientist, this goal has long stood as the “Holy Grail of material science.”

To that end, findings published today in the journal Science represent a big step toward making that dream an ironclad reality. According to the report, a team led by investigators at the Canadian company Nexia Biotechnologies has coaxed mammalian cells into producing spinnable proteins by equipping them with spider silk genes. After harvesting the proteins, the scientists spun them from a water-based solution into fine, silken threads. The synthetic strands possess the strength and toughness—although not quite the tenacity—of spider-made dragline silks, the ones the creatures use in their web frames and safety lines.

Looking forward, Nexia hopes to produce large quantities of the recombinant spider silk, trade-named BioSteelR, using goats engineered to produce the spider silk proteins in their milk. If successful, future applications of harvested silk could include medical sutures, high-strength composites and soft body armor.

Media Contact

Kate Wong Scientific American

All latest news from the category: Materials Sciences

Materials management deals with the research, development, manufacturing and processing of raw and industrial materials. Key aspects here are biological and medical issues, which play an increasingly important role in this field.

innovations-report offers in-depth articles related to the development and application of materials and the structure and properties of new materials.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors