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.
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