CRISPR silkworms make spider silk that defies constraints(genengnews.com)
genengnews.com
CRISPR silkworms make spider silk that defies constraints
https://www.genengnews.com/topics/genome-editing/crispr-silkworms-make-spider-silk-that-defies-scientific-constraints/
45 comments
The article wasn't clear, maybe someone knows — how much stronger is the silk than normal silkworm silk? Comparing it to Kevlar is kind of apples and oranges for someone who doesn't know how Kevlar compares with either spider silk or silkworm silk.
About 160% stronger.
https://www.nature.com/articles/418741a
https://www.nature.com/articles/418741a
Not exactly a space elevator level improvement rolls eyes
Lol. Yeah. That space elevator thing was funny.
“CRISPR modified silk worms produce threads made of buckyballs for space elevator”
It’s a fun thought I guess. You’d need a pretty massive crop of mulberry bushes.
“CRISPR modified silk worms produce threads made of buckyballs for space elevator”
It’s a fun thought I guess. You’d need a pretty massive crop of mulberry bushes.
I’m guessing someone there has recently read Children of Time.
Original article in Cell:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37623326
The original article is worth a read. They talk about fiber strength, hypothesize about why, debunk some current conceptions, then test their hupotheses. Then they edit a silkworm's genes as a real world test. I mean dang.
Imagine CRISPR hardwood trees that rapidly grow as tall as Redwoods while maintaining their broad cover and proportions. Would be great both for lumber and to plant in neighborhoods. A Navi/night-elf tree for every subdivision. Having the view and the shade in hot weather may be worth the risks of permanent shading and falling limbs. As long as they're sterile.
People would complain that they drop needles, that birds hang out in them and crap on their cars and sing loudly in the mornings, that they block their light, that they are scared they will blow over in a storm.
No, people want tarmac, concrete, astroturf and air conditioning.
I see this everywhere I go. Nature as an inconvenience, something to be opposed and complained about. Just watched them hack down and mulch a 500+ year old chestnut here because it dropped fruit on the road and someone complained. Never mind that the chestnut had been by that road for longer than modern France has existed. I’m sure they can plant a laurel bush and nature will heal.
No, people want tarmac, concrete, astroturf and air conditioning.
I see this everywhere I go. Nature as an inconvenience, something to be opposed and complained about. Just watched them hack down and mulch a 500+ year old chestnut here because it dropped fruit on the road and someone complained. Never mind that the chestnut had been by that road for longer than modern France has existed. I’m sure they can plant a laurel bush and nature will heal.
The world is bigger than suburban America, there are a lot of places where greenery is a core part of the (yes, even urban) landscape
Indeed. I’ve seen this attitude everywhere from Uruguay to Uzbekistan to Ulaanbaatar to Ulm - and the people who want to remove nature inevitably win, as it’s a lot easier to destroy than to create.
Where I live most of the time in very rural Portugal, people are utterly mystified by our desire to protect nature in our land - “but it’s good firewood!”, “animals live there!” (Wild animals == food/fear), “why do you want to live in a dirty forest?”, “how can you bear to live next to a river? Aren’t you scared?”, and on it goes.
Of course there exist people who care about the environment, and prefer greenery to sterility - but they are the minority, always have been, always will be.
Where I live most of the time in very rural Portugal, people are utterly mystified by our desire to protect nature in our land - “but it’s good firewood!”, “animals live there!” (Wild animals == food/fear), “why do you want to live in a dirty forest?”, “how can you bear to live next to a river? Aren’t you scared?”, and on it goes.
Of course there exist people who care about the environment, and prefer greenery to sterility - but they are the minority, always have been, always will be.
That's far from a universally held position in suburban America.
Imagine when we could bio-engineer our own houses: Grow an acorn room, cut out some windows, water tight it. When the kids grow up, you cut it off from the trunk and regraft it as the planting for their next house. One can only dream...
IIRC Fast growing trees have less-dense fibers as each ring is bigger which makes the wood literally weaker.
Throw in some baobab genes to help redistribute the growth/weight.
good point, add in some density genes to make them hard as rocks
Or maybe not quite that hard. Some woods are already hard enough to be inconvenient to work. Though maybe it's still all benefit if you're just trying to make industrial feedstock for cross laminated timber or something.
Not necessarily. Black locust (Robinia psuedoacacia), e.g., is one of the faster growing hardwoods in North America, but produces very hard, dense, and strong wood.
One can only dream.
could this be used to make woven tanks for hydrogen storage?
Yes, for $1,000,000,000/bottle.
I imagine silk harvesting is already a difficult process, it being the most expensive natural fabric. Then add the step of doing it all in a laboratory environment, the increased regulation and scrutiny. Thats all assume that the technology to make bottle out of silk already exists, if not of course that technology would have to be developed.
I imagine silk harvesting is already a difficult process, it being the most expensive natural fabric. Then add the step of doing it all in a laboratory environment, the increased regulation and scrutiny. Thats all assume that the technology to make bottle out of silk already exists, if not of course that technology would have to be developed.
They just collect the cocoons of the caterpillar. It’s already pretty industrialized. Farmers grow mulberry bushes and feed the worms and collect the pods. This would be no different. Just a slightly different worm.
People do it as a hobby at home and scaling it is a known process already scaled.
People do it as a hobby at home and scaling it is a known process already scaled.
You realize you can buy silk at Walmart, yeah? Just a new breed of worm for super-silk.
Actually woven, or fiber reinforced composite?
Regardless, s-2 glass fiber is probably a better choice
Regardless, s-2 glass fiber is probably a better choice
> Regardless, s-2 glass fiber is probably a better choice
I would appreciate if you can elaborate on that. Not being a material scientist, it's not obvious to me which option is a better choice here, but I am curious to learn.
I would appreciate if you can elaborate on that. Not being a material scientist, it's not obvious to me which option is a better choice here, but I am curious to learn.
Material "strength" is often misunderstood in popular science articles.
Spider dragline silk is notable for it's high strength for a stretchy material. These two properties are typically a trade-off. This means that it can absorb a lot of energy before breaking. Great for sutures, climbing ropes, stopping bullets.
For a pressure vessel you want high strength and you don't want it to stretch. So the unique property of spider silk is wasted in the application and it's outperformed by conventional non-stretchy fibers.
If you want a basic understanding, read up on and understand the difference between compressive and tensile yield and ultimate strength (and the specific variations that account for density), toughness, modulus of elasticity, and hardness.
Spider dragline silk is notable for it's high strength for a stretchy material. These two properties are typically a trade-off. This means that it can absorb a lot of energy before breaking. Great for sutures, climbing ropes, stopping bullets.
For a pressure vessel you want high strength and you don't want it to stretch. So the unique property of spider silk is wasted in the application and it's outperformed by conventional non-stretchy fibers.
If you want a basic understanding, read up on and understand the difference between compressive and tensile yield and ultimate strength (and the specific variations that account for density), toughness, modulus of elasticity, and hardness.
aaand... they went to spider silk space elevators. Good for them. I'll be in line to buy a ticket when they are ready.
Ridiculous editorializing, spider silk is remarkably tough. But it's specific strength is less than fiber glass.
It’s also not very rigid so how would it work for an elevator? Maybe they could tie the other end to the moon
>> t’s also not very rigid so how would it work for an elevator?
Think bungee jumping. From space.
Think bungee jumping. From space.
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Now all they have to do is engineer goats to produce this silk from their nipples.
That was all over the news back in 2010: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=spider+silk+goat+milk&atb=v279-1__...
I wondered what had happened to it, and found this 2019 article: https://www.genengnews.com/topics/genome-editing/crispr-silk..., discussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22920275 (just submitted it again at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37628641)
I wondered what had happened to it, and found this 2019 article: https://www.genengnews.com/topics/genome-editing/crispr-silk..., discussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22920275 (just submitted it again at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37628641)
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Can we also feed them plastic waste?
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Unironically, a larger animal that could consume and break down plastic to almost anything non-plastic, would be a more lucrative market.
Especially a marine animal