I'm sure this a repost for most here, but it may be new to some...
January 2017
On behalf of Technical Textiles International, John McCurry conducted an exclusive interview with Kraig Biocraft, a company exploiting genetic engineering in its bid to produce spider silk on a full-scale commercial basis.
Somewhere in northern Indiana, USA, at a facility known only to be close to the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, a handful of people are working on a project that might eventually lead to major breakthroughs in the manufacture of high-technology fabrics.
The endeavours at this secret location are built principally upon the research of scientists at two centres in the USA—Notre Dame and the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
For much of this century, these scientists – led by Randy Lewis and Donald Jarvis at Wyoming, and Malcolm Fraser of Notre Dame – have been developing transgenic engineering technologies to create silkworms capable of producing fibres with the strength and elasticity of spider silk.
?Moths of the first line of silkworms, called Monster Silk, which Kraig Biocraft created using its transgenic engineering technologies, emerging from their silk cocoons.
As early as 2006, the research prompted Kim Thompson to found Kraig Biocraft Laboratories in order to exploit the findings commercially. Today, Thompson is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, which has its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, and Fraser and Jarvis are its Scientific Advisory Board.
Kraig Biocraft is a publically traded company, but remains somewhat secretive in many respects, such as the precise location of its Indiana facility.
However, a prospectus supplement filed with the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on 7 December 2016 sheds some light on the company’s latest research efforts with Notre Dame and the University of Wyoming:
Kraig Biocraft spent nearly US$380 000 between January and September 2016 on collaborative research and development (R&D) at Notre Dame concerning high-strength polymers, and expected to have spent a further US$105 000 by the end of 2016;the company anticipates spending another US$13 700 on similar research at the University of Wyoming during 2017 and states it will consider pursuing collaborative opportunities with other universities.
The company is also guarded about its processes, which have evolved over the years, but does issue frequent, brief statements concerning major milestones in its development, such as the opening of the Indiana facility, a large hatchery for the genetically engineered silkworms, in August 2016.
Moreover, the company’s principal spokesperson, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jon Rice, who joined the company in January 2015, granted Technical Textiles International an exclusive interview in December 2016.
Rice is a specialist in advanced manufacturing techniques and was previously the Director of Advanced Technologies at another Ann Arbor-based company— Ultra Electronics, which designs and manufacturers solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).
He was attracted to Kraig Biocraft Laboratories because of its relatively small size, where he can see the fruits of his own labours, and its work: “I enjoy the coolness of a technology like this”.
He arrived at an opportune time describing 2016 as “a breakthrough year for us”. In July 2016, the company announced it had won a contract worth up to US$1 million from the US Department of Defense (DoD) to use its silk to make antiballistic materials. It opened the facility in Indiana to expand its infrastructure and trained the six staff there to raise silkworms. Meanwhile, R&D continues: “we have some pretty good things happening in our lab[oratory].”
?Kraig Biocraft has now delivered its first batch of material to the US Army for testing in antiballistic panels.
Kraig Biocraft’s long-stated goal is to produce genetically engineered spider silk with properties that surpass those of the current generation of high-performance fibres. As an example, the company cites the ability of natural spider silk to absorb more than 100 kJ of kinetic energy, potentially making it suitable for structural blast protection. The company believes that materials made with its engineered spider silk can be lightweight, thin and flexible, while being tougher even than steel.
Unsurprizingly, this combination of properties attracted the interest of the military, leading to the award of the DoD contract, as part of which, in December 2016, Kraig Biocraft shipped its first batch of cocoons (based on a line of silkworms called Dragon Silk) to a reeling facility for preparation of fibres in advance of their delivery to Warwick Mills, a specialist in technical textiles based in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, USA. Warwick Mills will use the fibres to make antiballistic materials for testing by the US Army. Kraig Biocraft and Warwick Mills began their collaboration in 2013, about the time that Thompson also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SSM Industries of Spring City, Tennessee, USA.
The ultimate goal of the contract will be the development of a panel for an antiballistic vest. The square panel will measure 38 × 38 cm (15 × 15 inches) and comprise a single or many layers of material. The Army will evaluate a variety of configurations and Kraig Biocraft is currently scheduled to deliver the final test samples of its product in April 2017.
The contract awards Kraig Biocraft US$100 000 for this initial phase, rising to its full value if the US Army decides to proceed further. Even during this initial phase, Rice notes that the funds have been instrumental to the company’s rapid development. Following the award in July 2016 and the opening of the facility the following month, for instance, the company announced in October 2016 that it had achieved peak production capacity ahead of schedule and was already reviewing plans for a possible expansion.
?Silkworms are voracious consumers of mulberry leaves during their 30-day lifecycle. Feeding them with natural leaves produces stronger and healthier silkworms that build bigger cocoons.
Production involves hatching the silkworms and raising them to produce the cocoons. The initial hatching, primarily for the Army contract, involved more than 40 000 silkworms at the Indiana facility. “For thousands of years, societies have cultured silkworms to create these very efficient silk-producing machines,” Rice says, adding that is “why we chose this approach.”
As noted above, the cocoons are then sent to a facility where the fibres are reeled and Kraig Biocraft has worked with several partners in this regard.
One of the company’s objectives is to establish relationships with manufacturing partners in Vietnam: “Vietnam has a strong history of sericulture and high-quality silk production,” Rice says. “It offers highly skilled workers, existing supporting infrastructure, and a climate for year-round silk production.” An increased presence in Southeast Asia seems to be likely, moreover, because Kraig Biocraft already has a small office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which it opened in July 2016. The company is working there to establish large-scale production of its technology.
The importance of the climate relates to the production process’ principal feedstock requirement—the leaves from mulberry trees, particularly those from white mulberry trees. Silkworms love them and a steady supply of leaves is needed. The trees need temperate climates to grow and Kraig Biocraft needs a location suitable for a year-round supply, ruling out Indiana owing to its cold winters. Fortunately, however, the trees are fast-growing and leaf harvesting does not require a long wait.
In August 2016, the company also announced that it had agreed to purchase 2000 mulberry trees and Rice says it is looking for a suitable location in the Southern USA, with a view to planting some of them by early 2017.
In the meantime, Kraig Biocraft is feeding its worms in Indiana with leaves that are ground into a dry powder and then reconstituted in the laboratory, something Rice describes as an “artificial” diet. This is more efficient than having leaves shipped internationally, but the advantage of fresh leaves is that the silkworms grow stronger and healthier, and build bigger cocoons. In addition, growing its own trees will provide the company with a sustainable, cheaper source of feedstock.
?A silkworm towards the end of its 30-day lifecycle just before it begins spinning silk.
Silkworms grow quickly in their 30-day life span, eating a lot of food. Even in this initial stage, Rice says the Indiana facility is feeding them “hundreds of pounds [1 pound = 0.45 kg] of food.” Further, although Rice declines to discuss specific figures, expansion will require sustaining production with millions of worms. It takes about 3500 worms 30 days to make one kilogram of material, according to industry figures.
Currently, the Indiana facility is big enough for demand, but any international partners will come into play as the company grows and Rice is already anticipating the beginning of commercial sales in 2017 as well as further progress related to the US Army contract. “We have a number of commercial conversations started, and I am hoping to see us expand production,” he says. “We have a busy year ahead.”
All the end-uses for the silk will be in high-performance markets. While the military contract is paving the way and getting a lot of the company’s attention at present, Rice believes the majority of sales will ultimately be in commercial markets, initially performance apparel and medical textiles, followed by composites for the aerospace and automotive sectors, where the fibre’s potential to help create strong yet lightweight materials can be exploited. In medical applications, the material’s strength, flexibility, biocompatibility and biodegradability make it a candidate for such as grafts and sutures.
Indeed, Rice says the company’s biggest challenge in product development will be vetting all the opportunities. He believes that the relatively low cost of US$300 kg–1 will open-up opportunities in a “plethora” of applications. The challenge is not to generate interest, because he sees a lot of demand, but to create the fibre in sufficient quantities in an economic manner.
Concerning that challenge, and referring to the competition from several others working to make engineered silk for textile markets, Kraig Biocraft offers a comparison of the production costs of its own and rival methods on its website.
Rice summarizes this simply: “I believe hands-down that we have the best approach and we will ultimately win-out.”
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