Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc (KBLB)

[EMPATHY]

Firm spins spider silk–cotton composite yarn

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ckUZvL1t-wYJ:https://www.ecotextile.com/2023053030748/materials-production-news/firm-spins-spider-silk-cotton-composite-yarn.html&cd=17&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Published: 30 May 2023
ANN ARBOR – US research firm Kraig Labs has spun its first composite bio-engineered spider silk and Pima cotton yarn as it looks to advance the genetics and robustness of its technology for future textile manufacture.

The production of these bio-engineered yarns, first designed in late 2022, has allowed the company to improve the silk cutting, washing, and opening of the new composite yarns – ready for in-house scale-up.

Robust, bio-engineered silk fibres have been put forward as a candidate to replace synthetic textile fibres in future.

Kraig Labs also says it now has a complete set of processing steps and protocols that improve silk staple fibre separation and alignment, which are needed to increase the overall quality and uniformity of the new composite silk–cotton yarns.

To enable this quality improvement, it invested in new production equipment for the in-house production of silk staple fibres so that cocoons can be reeled into raw silk before the silk can be blended and spun with other fibres.

“We have taken the detailed technical analysis from the spinning of the first yarn and revamped our staple fibre processing with the guidance and advice of top experts here in the US,” said Kim Thompson, founder, and CEO of Kraig Labs. “We believe that perfecting the processing of the fibres and yarns which will, in turn, create fabrics and garments of the highest quality is critical for the launch of our joint venture apparel brand, SpydaSilk.

Spydasilk owners are Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc., Singapore-based trading firm Kings Golden Harvest and its streetwear subsidiary M the Movement. Kriag also partners with Prodigy Textiles in Quang Nam, Vietnam, which operates from a historical silk breeding facility.

The company said in a press statement that it will have ‘more announcements’ shortly, adding that the recombinant research it started in late 2022 with its first cross-hybrids: blending its spider silk biotechnology with commercial silkworm strains, has now expanded to nearly a dozen strains of robust production silkworm lines.

“These strains were sourced from around the world and selected for their strong genetic background and cocoon performance. With these additional strains in-house, we are now starting to crossbreed our spider silk transgenes into these various commercial lines.

“Over the next several months, we expect to create enough unique strains of spider silk transgenics to implement a multi-line ‘double hybrid’ production system,” said Thompson.

The company notes renewed interest from the U.S. Department of Defense for the domestic production of bio-engineered materials and manufacturing technologies, saying it’s also been approached by the Ministry of Defense from another US ally nation.

“They requested samples of our recombinant spider silk materials for evaluation in protective textile applications,” he said.

Spider silk is known to have the highest tensile strength of any natural fibre on the planet and in addition to military applications for bio-engineered silk fabrics, the research has garnered interest from suppliers of outdoor clothing and performance textiles where in theory it could replace fossil fuel derived synthetics.

$KBLB