Team:Utah State

From 2012.igem.org

(Difference between revisions)

Revision as of 06:36, 2 October 2012

Demo Menu - PSDGraphics.com USU iGEM 2012

Spider silk is the strongest known biomaterial, with a large variety of applications. These applications include artificial tendons and ligaments, biomedical sutures, athletic gear, parachute cords, air bags, and other yet discovered products which require a high tensile strength with amazing extendibility. Spiders however cannot be farmed because they are territorial and cannibalistic. Thus, an alternative to producing spider silk must be found. We aim to engineer spider silk genes into E. coli to produce this highly valuable product. Spider silk production in bacteria has been limited due to the highly repetitive nature of the spider silk amino acids in the protein. To overcome this obstacle we are using various synthetic biology techniques to boost spider silk protein production and increase cellular fitness. After successful production, spider silk protein is artificially spun into usable fibers and tested for physical properties.

@@ Line 435: / Line 435: @@
 		</script>
 <div style="height: 750px;">
-     <div style="height: 590px; border: 10px solid #d6d3d3; width1:1020px;">
+     <div style="height: 510px; border: 10px solid #d6d3d3; width1:1020px;">
          <div style="height:500px">
              <div style="border-bottom: 10px solid #d6d3d3; width1:1020px; height:290px;">