![\"Researchers](\"http:\/\/cdn.defenseone.com\/media\/img\/upload\/2016\/07\/12\/Golden_silk_orb-weaver_spider_Nephila_clavipes_male\/defense-large.jpg\" "\\"Researchers")
Spider silk is one of nature\u2019s toughest substances, similar in strength to the Kevlar plastic found in bulletproof vests but much more flexible. Kraig Biocraft, a company out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, genetically altered silkworms to produce a fiber that\u2019s similar to pure spider silk. Today, they announced an Army contract to test this so-called Dragon Silk for possible use in body\u00a0armor.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason that silk from worms is cheap but you can\u2019t buy pajamas made from spider fabric: spiders are territorial and cannibalistic, which makes farming them for fabric production almost\u00a0exorbitant.<\/p>\n
Enter the brave new wonder that is genetic engineering. In 2000, researchers first isolated<\/a> and sequenced the key proteins that create spider silk (ampullate spidroin-1, spidroin-2, etc.) That let scientists reproduce spider silk proteins in yeast, E coli bacteria, and other substances in somewhat the same way as pharmaceutical companies produce proteins for drugs. But these methods didn\u2019t yield a lot of spider\u00a0fabric.<\/p>\n The technology behind Dragon Silk is based in part on the work of\u00a0Malcolm J. Fraser<\/a>, Donald L. Jarvis<\/a>, and their colleagues. As they explain in\u00a0this paper<\/a>, they introduce specific pieces of spider DNA<\/span> into silkworm eggs, creating an entirely new type of silkworm that can spin spider\u00a0silk.<\/p>\n The Army\u2019s Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment, or PM<\/span>–SPIE<\/span> office, will give Kraig $100,000 to test a series of \u201cshoot packs\u201d to see how the material stands up to\u00a0abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to provide them a series of different thread counts, thicknesses, construction techniques that they will test against standard material performance specifications,\u201d said Kraig chief operating officer Jon Rice. If the material performs well, the Army may increase the award to $1\u00a0million.<\/p>\n Rice doesn\u2019t anticipate that Dragon Silk will be a direct replacement for Kevlar, which has a strength of 3 gigapascals<\/a>. <\/em>Spider silk has a strength of 2 gigapascals, only about two-thirds as\u00a0strong.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Kevlar has an elasticity of 3 percent,\u201d says Rice. \u201cIf you have a Kevlar fiber, it\u2019s not going to move at all. Our fibers have a 30 to 40 percent elasticity before they\u00a0break.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n