Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am interested in the synthetic production of spider silk. First is this a feasible project for a high school student working in a lab with a mentor or alone?
It seems to me from my preliminary research that there are 2 basic ways to synthesize spider silk.

1 Sequence the genes responsible for the protein production and other genes responsible for the production and creation of spider silk. Then splice these genes into another organism and start a silk farm (spiders go cannibalistic in spider silk farms). (The same basic idea behind the production of insulin by bacteria.)

2 Find the composition of spider silk and analyze the spinneret and actual production process done by spiders. Create a "chemical recipe" for spider silk and go into production.

I am more interested in the second way. This is a very difficult project in which I will need a lab and a mentor. I live in the LA area. I heard a lot about UC Riverside but they are going with the first option and it is kind of far to do regular research at. I was wondering if anyone knew of labs in the LA area that are trying to synthesize spider silk where a high school student could work at.

Thank you for your help.

QUESTION WAS MOVED TO PHYSICAL SCIENCE FORUM AND HAS BEEN ANSWERED.

Sorry no one has answered your question yet. My guess is that experts would like to answer your more specific questions, and can't. I can try to help you more generally. If you are looking for a mentor, we do have a guide to get you started (See below).

I don't know much about spider silk, but my guess is that it would be pretty difficult to manufacture (otherwise we'd use it all the time since it is so strong, right?). You would probably need to do this project in a lab with advanced equipment, which means you'll need a mentor who's doing research in this area. Although, as you mentioned, this will be difficult, I don't think it is an impossible project, you'll just need some perseverance.

How to get started on an advanced project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... dmap.shtml
How to find a mentor: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tors.shtml

Advanced Project Guide: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

If you haven't already, read research papers on spider silk and see where people are doing research. In the Advanced Project Guide, we have some pages that talk about how to find and how to read scientific papers. That might give you an idea of what labs you might contact. You might also try to find companies who manufacture it either by using spiders or synthetically. Who knows, they might sponsor you.

This is a very specific area, so it might be difficult to find a mentor for this. Don't despair, keep trying. But if it doesn't work out there are many other project ideas you could try.

If you have any other questions about your project, we would love to help. Good luck!

You could also go to local universities websites and search the website for spider, spider silk, etc. and see if anything pops up in their research pages.

I talked with James Pita of USC and Dr. Randy Lewis at University of Wyoming. I have narrowed down my topic to the actual spinning of chemical dope. Can anyone give me any information or research already done in this area?

Thank You

Hi,

Here is a patent on spinning chemical dope that might be helpful:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5952434.pdf

You might be able to borrow this book through an interlibrary loan:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ySm_c1 ... navlinks_s

These articles may be relevant:

http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v5/n ... 62_S1.html

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bm0001446

http://www.physorg.com/news100185198.html

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/jour ... 6/abstract

http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-M ... 6487.shtml

I hope these help you get started.

Best wishes for a great project!

Best regards,

Barrett L. Tomlinson

Thanks for all of your help.

I was reading that when a spider produces silk the spinnerets apply pressure to the liquid dope to make it form into solid silk.

Does anyone have any additional information on this?