Spider silk is tough and has many potential applications, but spiders' territorial nature makes them hard to farm. Researchers have therefore engineered silkworm moths that can produce threads of comparable strength.

Credit: F. PUPIN/FLPA

Donald Jarvis at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and his colleagues built a silk gene that combines sequences from the golden silk orb-weaver spider (Nephila clavipes) and the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori; pictured). The team transferred the genetic construct into the genome of B. mori and then harvested the resulting larvae's silks, which comprise a mixture of natural and synthetic silk proteins.

The material is stronger and stretchier than normal Bombyx silks and is as tough as spider draglines. It could be harvested for biomedical applications such as surgical sutures.

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1109420109 (2012)