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Genetically Modifying Silk Worms For Super Silk
New submitter davidshenba sends this quote from the BBC:
"U.S. researchers have created silkworms that are genetically modified to spin much stronger silk (abstract). In weight-for-weight terms, spider silk is stronger than steel. ... Researchers have been trying to reproduce such silk for decades. But it is unfeasible to 'farm' spiders for the commercial production of their silk because the arachnids don't produce enough of it — coupled with their proclivity for eating each other. Silk worms, however, are easy to farm and produce vast amounts of silk — but the material is fragile. Researchers have tried for years to get the best of both worlds — super-strong silk in industrial quantities — by transplanting genes from spiders into worms. But the resulting genetically modified worms have not produced enough spider silk until now. GM worms produced by a team led by Professor Don Jarvis of Wyoming University seem to be producing a composite of worm and spider silk in large amounts — which the researchers say is just as tough as spider silk."
welcome our new super silkworm overlords.
Inside the article there was a mention that the GM silk could post a threat to the environment.
Call me dense, but I just don't get it.
We are not talking about something that last forever or what, we are talking about silk - something that is totally biodegradable, and some more, the GM material is a combination of silkworm and spider, both exist in nature.
Anyhoo, congrats to the scientists who come up with this idea.
Then everything will be fine.
Actual quote from the actual fine article:
their eventual aim is to produce silk from worms that has the toughness of spider silk.
Something bad is coming when people are suddenly anxious to tell the truth.
Wonder if this is a part of an lead-in on the research.
Looks like WYU is sitting on a ton of patents around spider silk technologies.
Nicer pictures of this article can be found at http://inhabitat.com/genetically-modified-silkworms-spin-super-strong-spider-silk-for-bandages-and-bulletproof-vests/
when da bitches try to rip em off me.
The problem is that loose thread was like a cheese wire and it ripped your dick off
I hope the Chinese get the credit for the original silkworm genes
It's also interesting for things that are only partly silk. Pashmina wool comes from the underside of the chin of the nepalese goat and is amazingly soft, but very fragile. You can't make things from it if you want to be able to wear them more than once, so you mix in some silk to add strength[1], but the more silk you add the more of the softness and warmth you lose. Stronger silk would mean that you could weave fabrics with a very small amount of silk and a lot of something softer.
[1] It amused me to see street sellers in NYC advertising pashmina shawls as '50% silk!' as if that was a good thing. The high quality ones are at most 20% silk. The silk is a lot cheaper than the wool.
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it is unfeasible to 'farm' spiders for the commercial production of their silk because the arachnids don't produce enough of it
These spiders obviously need a harsh lesson about the economic climate we live in. They're never going to produce enough if you just get some other creatures to make it instead. Rank all the spiders by silk production, fire the ones at the bottom of the list. Things'll soon turn around.
coupled with their proclivity for eating each other
That's actually a good sign. A little healthy competitive pressure.
I am extremely ok with spider farming being infeasible. Accidentally wandering into a spider farm is the stuff of nightmares.
It amused me to see street sellers in NYC advertising pashmina shawls as '50% silk!' as if that was a good thing.
Amazing, since otherwise they seem like the kind of people you can trust.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.