Spinning recombinant spider silk
- Reference number
- Jap08-0001
- Start and end dates
- 081001-111231
- Amount granted
- 2 500 000 SEK
- Administrative organization
- KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
- Research area
- Life Science Technology
Summary
People have for a long time dreamt of being able to mimic the spider and produce a thin, strong, flexible, durable, and environmentally friendly silk thread. Professor Jan Johansson and colleagues in Uppsala have successfully produced a recombinant spider silk at physiological conditions. I here propose a technique based on microchannel chips to spin very thin fibers of unlimited length. A successful outcome of this research project would be a significant step towards large-scale production of a new biocompatible, biodegradable material with high tensile strength and flexibility.