Value of Spider Silk
The value of the silk material has captivated interest in mankind
for thousands of years. The charm, variety of colors and the great texture have
made this fabric - the most amicable of all. Silk fabric is created both
naturally and artificially. There are four varieties of natural silk available
these days in the market, namely taser, mulberry, muga and eri. However, the
higher demand for natural silk has intimidated everyone to find out other
alternatives to make silk. The four natural silk sources seem incapable of
providing the rising demands.
Spider silk is a fiber, which is derived from spiders. It is strong
fiber, even its tensile power compared to steel. The tensile strength for one
type of steel at 1.65 Gpa, whereas spider silk, is nearly at 1.3 Gpa.
Spider silk's Symmetry:
As a unique fiber, there are crystalline areas with amorphous
linkages. These crystal sectors are beta-sheets, which are compiled together.
Spider silk is very adaptable and can be extended up to forty percent of its
original length with no wreckage problems. Spider silk is made of the
complex molecular structure of protein. The spider can't be farmed or tamed
such as silkworms, as they are cannibals and territorial. The silk
extracted is very fine in nature and to create one square yard cloth up to 400
spiders are needed. The fiber gets firm when it is exposed to open air that
creates a problem to work with. Because of the monotonous symptoms of the DNA encoding,
it is tricky to identify its sequence.
The silk gland releases the fiber. Spider species have various
glands for their own reason like web-creation, capturing the prey and defense
and housing. The visible part of the gland is called as the spinneret. The
opening part of the gland is full of thole and tyro sine which are the key
ingredients. After the fiber creation process is created, it is stored in the
ampule. Then spinning duct captivate water from the fiber. Liquid separation is
directed to the verge the distal limb of the duct and then moves through the
valve. The valve help in fixing damaged fibers again.
Research has shown that spider silk is remarkably strong and
versatile thing. Building the spider silk is completed after blending the
mechanical properties and the non-polluting features. The production of spider
silk is entirely Eco-friendly, as it is produced by spiders at high-performance
pressure, temperature and water, without any pollution. Additionally, spider
silk is fully environmentally safe. Studies have shown that if the spider silk
production is increased, it will replace Kevlar. And will be used to
manufacture wear-resistant lightweight clothing, bullet-proof clothing, nets,
seat belts, parachutes, bio-degradable bottles and medical items.
The spider silk features have created an immense interest and
challenge to the scientist, engineers, spinners, and weavers to manage its
features in development and become familiarized with the skills of spiders in
making the silk.
We, Kraig Labs has been struggling on Spider Silk for a decade to find the
significant characteristics of spider silk and how it can be put to mankind
advantage. We are excited about examining the research, development and
commercialization of the next generation of high-performance fibers based on
genetic engineered spider silk. We are the world leader in our field of genetic
research and product development.
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