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USU Spider Silk Research Gets Nod From Gore And Tyson
Staff Report 5 hrs ago
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A woven spider silk research sample is stretched by Randy Lewis, a USTAR professor of biology, in December 2015 at a lab at the Utah State University Innovation Campus.



The spider silk research project at Utah State University has already reached worldwide fame, but it hit new heights recently when politician-turned environmentalist Al Gore and famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discussed it on talk radio.

Utah State Today reported that Tyson interviewed Gore on the former’s “Innovators” program on Tech Insider‘s StarTalk Radio Show, and the conversation turned to the ethics of biotechnology. This involved talking about Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative professor Randy Lewis’ research on genetically modifying goats to produce spider silk in their milk.

“You know about spider goats?” Gore asked.

“Sounds interesting,” Tyson replied.

In the research, the genes a goat are modified with the gene of a golden orb weaving spider. The silk is processed and can be used to make a fiber, or a coating or adhesive.

The work of Lewis and his students is being investigated for a variety of applications, including possible synthetic spider silk fabric for military clothing that does not melt and is lighter and stronger than fabrics like Kevlar. The USU spider goats have been featured in media around the world, from the BBC to the Associated Press.

While Tyson added he is “completely” OK with it, and Gore agreed, they urged caution when it comes to emerging genetic engineering. Gore pointed out that while this is one small genetic change that is likely to help people, humans will run into more ethical challenges as the field of genetic engineering moves forward, and designer babies are a thing.

“That gets creepy,” Tyson said.

The full interview can be found at techinsider.io , with the spider silk discussion starting about 14 minutes into the video.




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