Nephilidae |
Nephila |
Important mechanical properties : |
1) | High tensile strength |
2) | High extensibility |
3) | High capability of water uptake |
4) | Biodegradability |
Bioengineering : |
Method I : | |
1) | Insert the cloned silk gene into bacteria, E. coli |
2) | Bacteria synthesizes the desired protein |
3) | Culture the bacteria for the cloned colony that would produce the synthetic polymer by way of protein synthesis |
Method II : | |
1) | Introduce silk gene in the mammary gland of goats (silk gene : a form of Recombinant DNA) |
2) | Clone such goats with silk gene added to their genome. These animals will form the foundation of a herd sharing identical genome. It is supposed that per litre of milk will have 2-15 gms of spider silk. |
3) | Silk extraction will involve conventional dairy processes, using milking machines. |
4) | Skim the milk for cream and whey. Once the protein fat separated by 50% filteration process, the milk will be pure enough to produce a film containing silk. |
Application of Nephila silk : |
1) | Used for fishing lures, traps and nets. |
2) | Used as crosshairs in optical targeting devices such as guns and telescopes. |
3) | Though successful in a small scale, spider silk synthesis if ever becomes industrially viable is thought to replace Kevlar and be used to make diverse range of items such as — |
l | Bulletproof clothing |
l | Wear resistant light weight clothing |
l | Ropes, nets, seat belts, parachutes |
l | Rustfree panels on motor vehicles or boats |
l | Biodegradable bottles |
l | Bandages, surgical thread |
l | Artifical tendons or ligaments, support for weak blood vessels |