How Modified Worms and Goats Can Mass-Produce Nature's Toughest Fiber
Spidergoat This baby goat will produce milk that contains spider silk proteins. Holly Steinkraus/University of WyomingAfter years of research, we may be close to full-scale production of super-strong spider silk Mutant silkworms can produce miles of super-strong silk, in a new breakthrough that could lead to mass production of tough, flexible spider-silk material. Thanks to the efforts of these genetically modified spider-worms, along with spidergoats and spider-alfalfa, spider clothes may soon be upon us. Randy Lewis, a molecular biologist at the University of Wyoming, has been milking his spidergoats for a couple years now, and he's been trying to improve yields of genetically engineered spider-silk alfalfa. He's researching improved synthetic spider silk genes, and he hopes to start growing spider cotton in the near future. With his latest research, spider fabrics might only be a year away. Last week, Lewis and Malcolm Fraser at the University of Notre Dame announced they bred silkworms...