Researchers are spinning spider-silk from goats' milk
Spider silk has a wide variety of applications but it's also hard to
obtain and manufacture. Researchers are interested in spider silk for
things like artificial ligaments and artificial tendons, bulletproof
vests and even car air-bags. With small treatment, spider silk can be made
tougher than Kevlar or even stronger than steel (source 1). But s
ince
spiders are territorial, there's a narrow limit to how many spiders one
can actually harvest in a limited space. This is where the goats come
in.
Randy Lewis, a professor of molecular biology at the
University of Wyoming, and other researchers placed the spiders’
dragline silk gene into goats in such a way that the goats would only
make the protein in their milk. Similar to any other genetic factor,
only a certain percentage of the goats end up with the gene. For
instance, of seven goat kids born in February 2010, three have tested
positive for having the silk protein gene. When these transgenic goats
have kids and start lactating, the researchers will collect the milk and
isolate the spider silk protein from the milk to produce silk.
Other than their ability to produce the spider silk protein, the goats
do not seem to have any other differences in health, appearance, or
behaviour compared to goats without the gene (source 2).
Researchers plan to extend this research by replacing goats with alfalfa
plants, which they believe would be a much productive option.
Source:
1) http://
2) http://phys.org/
3) http://www.nsf.gov/news/
4) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
5) http://abcnews.go.com/
Image: http://phys.org/
Researchers are spinning spider-silk from goats' milk
Spider silk has a wide variety of applications but it's also hard to obtain and manufacture. Researchers are interested in spider silk for things like artificial ligaments and artificial tendons, bulletproof vests and even car air-bags. With small treatment, spider silk can be made tougher than Kevlar or even stronger than steel (source 1). But s
Spider silk has a wide variety of applications but it's also hard to obtain and manufacture. Researchers are interested in spider silk for things like artificial ligaments and artificial tendons, bulletproof vests and even car air-bags. With small treatment, spider silk can be made tougher than Kevlar or even stronger than steel (source 1). But s
ince
spiders are territorial, there's a narrow limit to how many spiders one
can actually harvest in a limited space. This is where the goats come
in.
Randy Lewis, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming, and other researchers placed the spiders’ dragline silk gene into goats in such a way that the goats would only make the protein in their milk. Similar to any other genetic factor, only a certain percentage of the goats end up with the gene. For instance, of seven goat kids born in February 2010, three have tested positive for having the silk protein gene. When these transgenic goats have kids and start lactating, the researchers will collect the milk and isolate the spider silk protein from the milk to produce silk.
Other than their ability to produce the spider silk protein, the goats do not seem to have any other differences in health, appearance, or behaviour compared to goats without the gene (source 2).
Researchers plan to extend this research by replacing goats with alfalfa plants, which they believe would be a much productive option.
Source:
1) http://
2) http://phys.org/
3) http://www.nsf.gov/news/
4) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
5) http://abcnews.go.com/
Image: http://phys.org/
Randy Lewis, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming, and other researchers placed the spiders’ dragline silk gene into goats in such a way that the goats would only make the protein in their milk. Similar to any other genetic factor, only a certain percentage of the goats end up with the gene. For instance, of seven goat kids born in February 2010, three have tested positive for having the silk protein gene. When these transgenic goats have kids and start lactating, the researchers will collect the milk and isolate the spider silk protein from the milk to produce silk.
Other than their ability to produce the spider silk protein, the goats do not seem to have any other differences in health, appearance, or behaviour compared to goats without the gene (source 2).
Researchers plan to extend this research by replacing goats with alfalfa plants, which they believe would be a much productive option.
Source:
1) http://
2) http://phys.org/
3) http://www.nsf.gov/news/
4) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
5) http://abcnews.go.com/
Image: http://phys.org/
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