DailyDirt: Doing Whatever A Spider Can...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, May 2nd 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

For years, researchers have been looking at spider silk's properties to try to re-create it into supermaterials tougher than Kevlar or steel. We're still learning a lot about how spider silk is made and what its structures are, so it'll probably be a few more decades before everyone is wearing clothes made from spider silk. In the meantime, here are a few interesting articles on spider silk.

Spider webs are amazing tough and resistant to damage. Webs can retain their original strength even if 10% of the web's spokes are cut. [url]
The most stretchable spider silk ever tested belongs to the cave spider, Meta menardi. The silk strands from the stalks of this spider's egg sacs can stretch up to 7.5 times their original length. [url]
Spiders don't actually produce much silk in their lifetimes, but silkworms are routinely used to produce commercial amounts of silk. So how about genetically modifying some silkworms to produce spider silk? Scientists are already trying to do this, but it's not so easy. [url]
To discover more interesting biological curiosities, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: fabric, kevlar, material, silkworms, spider silk, steel

7 Comments

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TtfnJohn (profile), 2 May 2012 @ 6:54pm

Spider silks are becoming something of a holy grail in some scientific and commercial realms for nanotech uses, human armour and for their sheer strength alone. That spiders make an array of silks for different purposes is fascinating all by itself and how it affects their webs, egg sacs, each of which seems to have a different but highly useful task in the web.

While I admit that I don't understand this at any level that could be called "in depth" it has changed my outlook on spiders and admiration at what evolution has come up with to answer a myriad set of issues in web construction beyond it sticking to my face! And all of this while creating one of the strongest materials we've ever come across.

Fascinating creatures are spiders.

I wonder if we ever will find a way to harvest spider silk(s) commercially?
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- A Guy (profile), 2 May 2012 @ 7:12pm
  
  Re:
  I think we already do. It's just not economical for many applications.
  
  I think (hope) carbon nanotubes will become economically viable before spider silk.
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- Michael Ho (profile), 2 May 2012 @ 7:21pm
  
  Re:
  Harvesting spider silk from spiders isn't easy... There are a lot of problems with that plan b/c spiders actually produce different kinds of silk for different purposes, and it's hard to force them to produce the kind you want. Spiders also eat insects, so it's a bit difficult to feed them in a spider farm. Spiders also fight each other. Spiders also don't naturally produce that much silk at a time.
  
  So maybe if we figure out how to genetically modify a domesticated spider... and breed a special kind of spider that is suited just for producing silk.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - technomage (profile), 2 May 2012 @ 7:38pm
    
    Re: Re:
    it's been tried in the past, here is a tapestry made from spider silk: http://rugmaster.blogspot.com/2009/10/spider-silk-tapestry-first-of-its-kind.html
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pixelation, 2 May 2012 @ 10:30pm

Instead of trying to increase spider silk production we should just make REALLY big spiders. They will naturally produce more silk. Problem solved.
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Jack Lloyd, 3 May 2012 @ 6:49am

We do not have to wait for decades for spider silk clothes. Here are links to the future of material science. A company call Kraig Biocraft is leading the way using transgenic silkworms to produce spider silk in commercial quantities.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America January 17, 2012 Issue, Article Titled:
Silkworms Transformed with Chimeric Silkworm/Spider Silk Genes Spin Composite Silk Fibers with Improved Mechanical Properties.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/01/02/1109420109.abstract

Spider Silk Potential Unleashed:
http://www.textileworld.com/Articles/2012/January/Jan-Feb_issue/Departments/QFOM_Spider_Silk.html

6 Spider-Silk Super Powers:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/6-spider-silk-superpowers#slide-1

Published by MIT

Transgenic Worms Make Tough Fibers:
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/26623/page1/

Silk Spinning The Genetically Modified Way:
www.labnews.co.uk/features/silk-spinning-the-genetically-modified-way/
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Jack Lloyd, 3 May 2012 @ 6:50am

Spider Silk
We do not have to wait for decades for spider silk clothes. Here are links to the future of material science. A company call Kraig Biocraft is leading the way using transgenic silkworms to produce spider silk in commercial quantities.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America January 17, 2012 Issue, Article Titled:
Silkworms Transformed with Chimeric Silkworm/Spider Silk Genes Spin Composite Silk Fibers with Improved Mechanical Properties.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/01/02/1109420109.abstract

Spider Silk Potential Unleashed:
http://www.textileworld.com/Articles/2012/January/Jan-Feb_issue/Departments/QFOM_Spider_Silk.html

6 Spider-Silk Super Powers:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/6-spider-silk-superpowers#slide-1

Published by MIT

Transgenic Worms Make Tough Fibers:
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/26623/page1/

Silk Spinning The Genetically Modified Way:
www.labnews.co.uk/features/silk-spinning-the-genetically-modified-way/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]