Scientists Gene-Hack Spider to Produce Bright-Red Silk

The researchers used the famous genes liberation technology to adjust the DNA sequence of household spiders, causing the production of red fluorescent silk.

Scientists hope that US maritime research and air financing will develop new “super materials” produced by the ancient elements, Fast company Reports.

As detailed in a paper published in the magazine Angewandte chemieA team of researchers at the University of Bayrywith in Germany pumped the eggs of the non-classified female spiders with a Crispr-LAS9 solution to insert the gene to the red fluore protein sequence. After mating with males of the same type, the offspring produced a red silk, which indicates that the experiment was successful.

“Looking at a wide range of possible applications, it is surprising that there have been no studies yet using CRISPR-LAS9 in spiders,” said a senior author and professor of the University of Bayriwis Thomas Shipbel in a statement. “We have proven, for the first time around the world, that Crispr-LCAS9 can be used to integrate a desirable sequence into spider silk proteins, allowing the functions of these silk fibers.”

Aside from the transformation of the bright silky red color, researchers also tried to hit a gene called Sine Oculis, who is responsible for developing spider eyes. They found that the liberation of genes caused the total or partial eye loss in experiments, highlighting its important role in visual development.

Through the CRISPR-SAS9 application, a technique that has already been widely used to create custom medical treatments or make farm animals more flexible in diseases, researchers hope to reach a new generation of silk fiber.

The team wrote in its paper: “A successful silk engineering in the live body will help develop and employ new fiber functions for a wide range of applications,” the team wrote in its paper. “Until now, genetic adjustments in spiders only aimed at evolutionary and development research.”

like Fast company It indicates that the material scientists were already investigating the touch of silk resulting from the genetic modified genetic worms. But thanks to advanced genes liberalization techniques, researchers can soon make fun of the unique advantages of spider silk as well.

Although researchers have never canceled the specified use cases for future “super materials”, potential applications are endless in practice, from lightweight body shields to very ongoing shoes.

“The ability to apply CRISPR genes to the spider silk is very promising to research material science-for example, can be used to increase the already high tensile power of spider silk,” explained Scheibel.

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