Team:Utah State

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 any other thinkable 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. This year’s Utah State iGEM team aims to incorporate spider silk genes into E. coli in order to produce this highly valuable product. In the past, spider silk production in bacteria has been limited due to the highly repetitive nature of the protein. To overcome this obstacle Utah State’s iGEM team is incorporating sequences for additional tRNAs to boost the number of amino acids available for production. After successfully producing spider silk protein, it will be artificially spun into usable fibers that will be tested and optimized for potential applications.