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CRISPR silkworms make spider silk that defies constraints
- nathandaly 3y agoOriginal article in Cell: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37623326 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37623326
- mannyv 3y agoThe 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.
- jakedata 3y agoaaand... they went to spider silk space elevators. Good for them. I'll be in line to buy a ticket when they are ready.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- zardo 3y agoRidiculous editorializing, spider silk is remarkably tough. But it's specific strength is less than fiber glass.
- coffeebeqn 3y agoIt’s also not very rigid so how would it work for an elevator? Maybe they could tie the other end to the moon
- phkahler 3y ago>> t’s also not very rigid so how would it work for an elevator? Think bungee jumping. From space.
- wernerb 3y agoDon't let this spider get near a Sony movie studio executive
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- webmaven 3y agoSpiders are the fiercest killers of the insect kingdom!
- bitwize 3y agoNow all they have to do is engineer goats to produce this silk from their nipples.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mkl 3y agoThat was all over the news back in 2010: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=spider+silk+goat+milk&atb=v279-1__&ia=web 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-silkworms-make-spider-silk-that-defies-scientific-constraints/ https://www.genengnews.com/topics/genome-editing/crispr-silk..., discussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22920275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22920275 (just submitted it again at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37628641 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37628641)
- gwill 3y agocould this be used to make woven tanks for hydrogen storage?
- chris_va 3y agoActually woven, or fiber reinforced composite? Regardless, s-2 glass fiber is probably a better choice
- krasin 3y ago> 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.
- zardo 3y agoMaterial "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.
- kylebenzle 3y agoYes, 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.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoCan we also feed them plastic waste?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Supermancho 3y agoUnironically, a larger animal that could consume and break down plastic to almost anything non-plastic, would be a more lucrative market.
- coffeebeqn 3y agoEspecially a marine animal
- JKCalhoun 3y agoThe 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.
- jdietrich 3y agoAbout 160% stronger. https://www.nature.com/articles/418741a https://www.nature.com/articles/418741a
- isoprophlex 3y agoNot exactly a space elevator level improvement rolls eyes
- pnpnp 3y agoWhat about a space elevator for worms?
- millerhooks 3y agoLol. 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.
- drak0n1c 3y agoImagine 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.
- tetris11 3y agoImagine 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...
- kuchenbecker 3y agoIIRC Fast growing trees have less-dense fibers as each ring is bigger which makes the wood literally weaker.
- taylorportman 3y agoThrow in some baobab genes to help redistribute the growth/weight.
- DrBenCarson 3y agogood point, add in some density genes to make them hard as rocks
- thfuran 3y agoOr 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.
- walnutclosefarm 3y agoNot 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.