Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Engineered spider web
Scientists at Jerusalem's Hebrew University used synthetic biology to crank out spider web fibers in the lab. They introduced certain genes from garden spiders into a virus that was used to infect caterpillar cells. Spider fibers then formed in the cultured cells.
"The research enabled us to determine the close connection that exists between the sequence, structure and functions of the proteins," said (researcher Uri) Gat. "From a practical viewpoint, mass production of fibers, whose diameter is one-thousandth of a millimeter, is likely to be useful in the future for manufacture of bulletproof vests, surgical thread, micro-conductors, optical fibers and fishing rods; even new types of clothing may be envisioned."Link (to original press release) Link (to CNN article)
posted by David Pescovitz at 04:24:08 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments
