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Replies to post #137868 on Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc (KBLB)
05/23/18 11:47 PM
We are good until someone can give a powerful rationale for the opposite. If they could, they would have by now.
There are three different ways of making spider silk protein, Lewis said. One is by using transgenic (being or used to produce an organism or cell of one species into which one or more genes of another species have been incorporated, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary) bacteria, transgenic goat milk or transgenic silkworms.
Bacteria, on the other hand, allows researchers to produce different proteins more easily
The silkworm-spider combination has a lot of potential, but ultimately has limitations because there is no way to change what the silkworm produces, Lewis said. The bacteria, on the other hand, allows researchers to produce different proteins more easily. Additionally, the bacterial silk proteins can be spun into different fibers to allow for a wider variety of properties — some stronger or some more elastic — something that cannot be done with the silkworms.
The goats produce the silk proteins in their milk, but Lewis said that they are the least hopeful option of the three, due to the limitations in milk production. While the goat milk is the most straightforward method for producing the proteins necessary, it is also the most costly and time-consuming.
After decades of research, several major hurdles remain before spider silk technologies are commercialized. “The worms we have now make about five percent spider silk and ninety-five percent silkworm silk in their cocoons,” says Lewis. They need to reach a threshold of 20 to 30 percent spider-silk protein before he would feel confident that bulletproof-silk vests could be a commercially viable reality. He also warns that “the gene is not as stable as we would like … after several generations the amount of spider protein starts to drop.”
If and when he is successful, Lewis will have to face the FDA approval process before he can begin scaling up his operations, which is stringent when it comes to genetically modified organisms. Silk moths have been domesticated for so long they can no longer fly, which Lewis believes should ease any concerns that the public or regulatory bodies may have over the novel genetic material getting off the farm and into the food chain.
“They have these little bitty wings and I guarantee you, they are never going to get off the ground … the odds of them getting out into the wild are zero.”
If they were permitted for agricultural purposes, transgenic silkworms would be the first non-plant crop to make it from the lab to the field. But he acknowledges that commercialization could be thwarted by the approvals process. “The regulations, quite frankly, are stiffer than there would be any argument for them to be scientifically,” he says.
While the whole concept of genetic engineering remains up for debate, whether for plants or animals, Lewis can think of a lot of environmentally sound reasons to genetically engineer silkworms. The enhanced fabric has potential to replace synthetics like nylon and Kevlar, which are petroleum products.
He also lists various industrial applications where silk protein could be manipulated into an all-natural alternative for adhesives, gels, coatings, sponges and sealants that are currently manufactured with substances known to be harmful to the environment — if not human health. Silk is essentially a bio-compatible molecular “scaffold” that is genetically malleable enough for any number of physical or biological properties to be stitched into.
“We see this as a pretty green technology,” says Lewis. In the same vein as using GMO corn to make bio-plastics, Lewis sees his silk applications as a small piece of the climate change puzzle, doing their part to sequester carbon from the atmosphere by “taking C02 and making it into something that is currently petroleum-based. Silkworms are eating plants that took [in] C02 and are making it into [silk].”
But it may be a while before villagers in Cambodia are raising spider silk-emitting worms, if ever. Even if the technology is eventually proven successful, the business models surrounding genetically engineered organisms may preclude small, subsistence-style farmers — who currently produce almost all of the world’s raw silk — from ever accessing the improved silkworm eggs.
“In all likelihood, there would be a very restricted number of growers that would be very tightly controlled,” says Lewis of the corporate structure he envisions to protect the intellectual property rights of the genetic material. “Let’s be honest, there are parts of the world where they would have no concerns over taking the technology themselves and turning around and selling those products.”
In Lewis’ estimation, taking the technology overseas seems unlikely at best. Since there is currently no form of commercial silk production in the United States whatsoever, it begs the question of who will be growing the worms if, and when, FDA approval is granted. Will highly profitable spider-silk farming operations begin popping up domestically?
05/24/18 9:47 AM
