Spider silk is prized for its unrivaled strength and toughness. But figuring out a way to mass-produce it is no easy feat. Spiders cannot be put to work to pump out the fibers the way silkworms can: They’re extremely territorial and inclined to eat their neighbors, and they refuse to keep at the task for long. So for decades, scientists have tried to genetically-engineer various organisms — including bacteria, yeast, mice, hamsters and even goats — to produce spider silk, but with only partial success.
Researchers in China used the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to insert the complete instructions for making spider silk protein into silkworms and make sure the protein wound up in the silkworms’ silk-making glands. That allowed the team to take advantage of the insect’s natural machinery. Breeding the tweaked silkworms then resulted in some that inherited the spider silk gene from both parents, meaning they could produce purer spider silk. The material is six times as tough as the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests.
“Spider silk stands as a strategic resource in urgent need of exploration,” Junpeng Mi, a synthetic biologist from Donghua University in Shanghai, said in a news release. Mi estimates that the surgical applications of spider silk alone could aid millions worldwide.
Researchers in China used the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to insert the complete instructions for making spider silk protein into silkworms and make sure the protein wound up in the silkworms’ silk-making glands. That allowed the team to take advantage of the insect’s natural machinery. Breeding the tweaked silkworms then resulted in some that inherited the spider silk gene from both parents, meaning they could produce purer spider silk. The material is six times as tough as the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests.
“Spider silk stands as a strategic resource in urgent need of exploration,” Junpeng Mi, a synthetic biologist from Donghua University in Shanghai, said in a news release. Mi estimates that the surgical applications of spider silk alone could aid millions worldwide.
