Spider Silk Is Tougher Than Kevlar And Stronger Than Steel

A Japanese company, "Spiber", has created a truly remarkable material, Spider silk, created using synthesised genes which coax bacteria to produce fibroin, a structural protein found in spider silk. Spider silk is at least five times stronger than steel, more flexible than nylon, stronger than steel and three times stronger than body armour Kevlar and can be stretched 40 percent beyond its original length without breaking.

The Spider silk is composed of a complex structure of fibrils which, gram for gram, make it stronger than any metal

IT COULD BE USED IN:

creating artificial blood vessels and ligaments
dissolvable sutures
bumpers in the auto industry
Bullet-proof clothing
Wear-resistant lightweight clothing
Ropes, nets, seat belts, parachutesKevlar sail
Rust-free panels on motor vehicles or boats
Biodegradable bottles

PROCESS:

Spiber have created a manmade version of spider silk using synthesised genes which coax bacteria to produce fibroin, a structural protein found in spider silk.

Spiber then uses the technology to culture the microbes efficiently and weave the fibroin into fabric.

The company, a spinoff from Tokyo's Keio University, has applied for 16 patents on its spider silk technology.

It is also teaming up with car parts maker Kojima Industries to build a plant that can turn out about 220 pounds of the synthetic silk a month. Spiber hopes to have an initial mass production of 10 tons a year starting in 2015.

‘This fabric can be used in various industries, such as automobiles and medicine,' Spiber President Kazuhide Sekiyama told The Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

While interest in artificial silk is high and competition is tough, Spiber says it has the advantage of speed: apparently, it can engineer a new type of silk in as little as 10 days, and has already created 250 prototypes with characteristics to suit specific applications.

Spider Silk Under Microscopr

Spyber starts by tweaking the aminoacid sequences and gene arrangements in its computer models to create artificial proteins that try to maximize strength, flexibility and thermal stability in the final product.

Then, the company synthesizes a fibroin-producing gene, modifying it in such a way that it will produce that specific molecule. The company adopts its own system of gene synthesis, which can produce large quantities of DNA for the fibroin gene in only three days.

Microbes are then modified with the fibroin gene to produce the candidate molecule, which is turned into a fine powder and then spun. The bacteria feed on sugar, salt and other micronutrients and can reproduce in just 20 minutes. A single gram of the protein produces about 5.6 miles (9 km) of artificial silk.

The artificial protein derived from fibroin has been named QMONOS, from the Japanese word for spider. The substance can be turned into fiber, film, gel, sponge, powder, and nanofiber form to suit a number of different needs.

Spibers says it is building a trial manufacturing research plant, aiming to produce 100 kg (220 lb) of QMONOS fiber per month by November. The pilot plant will be ready by 2015, by which time the company aims to produce 10 metric tons (22,000 lb) of silk per year.

Future Trends

Spider Silk Is Tougher Than Kevlar And Stronger Than Steel