Experiments on genetic crossing of silkworms and spiders were crowned with success. This news is reported by specialists from the University of Wyoming (USA), who managed to obtain genetically modified silkworms capable of creating a very strong thread in large volumes
Scientists stated that the ultimate goal of their experiments was to achieve super-strength of the silk produced by silkworms, the thread should become as strong as the thread of the spider's web.
Now, if we take the ratio by weight, then spider silk surpasses even steel in strength.
It is unprofitable to produce durable spider silk today due to the low productivity of these insects. In addition, the propensity for self-eating can significantly reduce spider colonies in organized production. Silkworms are much easier to breed, but the thread they produce is not particularly durable.
Biologists have long tried to cross two types of silkworm insects, but all the transgenic versions obtained before have turned out to be not entirely successful. The "results" of previous crosses tended to produce little webs.
Biologists from the University of Wyoming, under the leadership of Professor John Jarvis, bred genetically modified silkworms that not only produced silk thread in large quantities, but the material they produced was comparable in strength to the thread of silkworm spiders.
This step has already been evaluated by other scientists as a big step in the development of commercial production of super-strong silk fibers.
In their work, scientists have proved that their transgenic worms secrete complex fibers, which also include the genetic material of spiders, which in general improved the mechanical properties of the thread.
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The new discovery will be more useful in the field of medicine, where natural silk threads are used in surgical operations and even in the manufacture of prostheses. Natural silk fibers are also used to produce durable plastics, which are now extremely energy intensive for industrial production.
In the scientific world, opinions began to appear about a possible environmental threat from transgenic worms. Insects, for example, can pose a threat to the natural species of their relatives. However, inventor biologists were quick to assure that their genetically modified worms, possessing the genes of silkworm spiders, nevertheless did not receive any evolutionary advantages, and therefore they would not be able to disturb the biological balance.
