Spider-man's web shooters almost a reality: artificial spider silk invented

The world is already well aware of the amazing things that spider silk can do. Pound for pound, spider silk is five times stronger than steel and three times more resilient than Kevlar, the synthetic fiber used in bulletproof vests and sports equipment. It is also thermally and electrically conductive, and has antimicrobial properties as well (which means that the scene in 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” where Spidey seals up his bullet wound with his webbing does make sense, sort of).

 

 

All of these qualities make spider silk ideal for manufacturing armor, bandages, and even  artificial tendons or ligaments. Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle to the the widespread use of spider silk in manufacturing is the fact that there’s hardly enough for everyone to use in the first place.

 

Spins a web, any size

 

Artificially producing tons of spider silk isn’t exactly the easiest task in the world – it would take 400 spiders to produce a square yard of cloth, and 1,500 strands of silk to make a usable thread.

 

According to Alex Scott of Chemical and Engineering News, large-scale companies such as DuPont and BASF have already thrown in the towel in the race to commercialize spider silk. Farming is also out of the question, due to the territorial and cannibalistic nature of spiders. Synthetic methods have also yielded less than stellar results.

 

“Firms attempting to make spider silk synthetically have copied relevant genes from spiders and inserted them into organisms, such as Escherichia coli, that can express the protein,” wrote Scott. “The protein, though, is complex, and producing silk that is as strong as nature’s has proven elusive.”

 

However, if the German-based company AMSilk is to be believed, they may have finally found success in developing spider silk for commercial use.

 

“If someone ordered 1 ton, we could make it. We have already made a half a ton,” said Axel H. Leimer, the managing director of AMSilk.

 

“This is scalable technology.”

 

Is it strong? Listen, bud…

 

AMSilk – a firm that counts 22 scientists among its roster of 25 staffers – has employed genetically modified samples of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in cultivating the silk protein derived from the DNA of the European garden cross spider. The technology, developed by AMSilk advisory board member and Bayreuth University biomaterials professor Thomas Scheibel, is capable of producing four varieties and 20 grades of silk through specifically engineered variants of E. coli.

 

However, initial uses for the bioengineered spider silk have been mostly focused on cosmetics, namely for skin products and shampoos. The former incorporates the “supersmooth” feel of spider silk and applies it to the skin, while the latter binds with keratin to give the same silky effect to damaged hair.

 

The folks at AMSilk don’t plan to stop there, though. Leimer is aiming for $100 million in sales when they truly start “spinning” spider silk in enormous quantities. The managing director also believes that the silk protein could be a viable material for dip coating for silicone breast implants and other fiber-products, come 2015.

 

Meanwhile, a handful of other firms are also working on their own spider silk, including Michigan’s Karig Biocraft Laboratories, South Korea’s Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), Japanese startup Spiber, and Utah State University spin-off Araknitek.

 

Still, Leimer remains confident. “It’s a double-digit million-dollar market for spider silk.”

 

Peter Parker really should have had his web fluid formula patented when he had the chance. — TJD, GMA News