Silk fiber production inspired by the spider

Researchers have succeeded in developing an innovative process to produce a large amount of artificial webs, imitating the natural production process of spider webs / by: Yossi Cohen

Spiders can scare people away, but the material they produce to spin their webs interests many scientists. The material from which spider webs are made is very strong, very light, naturally biodegradable, and can be suitable for several applications: biodegradable medical sewing thread, violin strings, in the electronics industry and gene therapy. The amount of material produced by the spider is small and sufficient for spinning its webs only, so it cannot be used for massive production of this valuable material.

Recently, an innovative process was developed to produce a large amount of artificial webs, imitating the natural production process of spider webs, using bacteria and silk proteins. In the natural production process, the stock of raw material for the production of webs, which is in an aqueous solution in the spider's glands, contains several proteins that harden during the spinning process outside the spider's body. Within the glands there is an acidity gradient (pH) that affects different segments of the proteins, and ensures fast, continuous and accurate production of the webs.

Scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Sweden used this knowledge for the artificial production of an industrial amount of silk protein, by bacteria multiplying in groups. This artificial silk protein, which is the raw material of the webs, is soluble in water like the natural protein of the spider and therefore can be stored in high concentrations in an aqueous solution.

In the next step, the researchers extracted the silk protein from the bacteria and imitated the natural spinning process. They pumped it with a syringe into a glass capillary, and while changing the acidity in a controlled manner (lowering the pH value), created artificial fibers with a diameter of 40 micrometers and a length of kilometers!

This innovative process will allow in the future the industrial production of artificial spider silk fibers, which can be used for various applications.

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