Replies to post #63022 on Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc (KBLB)

[first mike]

It takes time and space to grow the population of any strain of silkworms from laboratory curiosity to production numbers.
We can safely assume that the initial testing samples were from the ~first 10 worms.
Even if they began immediately to ramp up populations and even though pop growth is exponential each egg-to-egg generation takes ~2 months.
If we take the growth factor as 50 (leaving room for saving eggs for protection and for some sacrificed for further samples) 10 in June become 500 in August, 25,000 in October.
At this point lab space becomes a problem competing with MS worms, so plan on another 25,000 in December + 25,000 stored eggs.

By then we should be able to move most of BR to a farm with more space available, so 50,000 becomes 2.5 million in February, the seed for the first production run of BR, which should be ready for harvest in April 2014.

This assumes multivoltine worms, limitless food at all seasons, Zero chill time, etc.
The actual timeline might well be even longer.
There is much more complexity and inertia in sericulture than most here realize.

Mike L.

[es1]

Why did KBLB not put BR on a parallel pilot track with MS, since it is clear that there needs to be enough quantity of the fiber to use in weave and product testing before market interest can be established?

answer to the first part is simply a matter of numbers. KBLB has not had BR tested and has not built up the number of eggs /worms needed to pilot the fiber. The answer to your second part is that a weave of fiber will be stronger than the fiber because of the weave. There is no way to tell the strength of the fiber after it is woven. The testing is done on a single strand of the fiber. Once that testing is done then they would weave it and see what the various weaves would do to the test results. Everything 1 step at a time.

Kim did not say 'independent testing'.

As for the repeated "why didn't Kim say independent lab"....do you or anyone know of a non-independent lab that KBLB has?
As far as I am aware Kim doesn't own a lab with testing equipment or anything even close to that.
However Kim does like to be particular in his wording. So why wouldn't he not say independent when any lab it is tested in would be other than a KBLB lab?
Because Kim announced that SSM is a partner, I would say their lab would not be independent in the literal sense of the word but it is still very qualified to test the fibers.

Does KBLB think that MS has more market potential and so concentrated on MS instead of BR?

Well as stated here many times it has taken a bit of time to get to production of MS. It will take more time to ramp up BR and get it to production too. MS was well on its way to being produced when BR was made. Why stop?

Also MS has its own uses. That it the whole reason KBLB can be such a blockbuster. They don't have to choose between 2 fibers. They can commercialize as many fibers as they have customers for and each is different.

All the activity with India and the 'other country' happened after BR was announced and yet it is MS that is being produced.
Just askin'

Just to state the obvious.... maybe india wants BR and not MS? maybe Korea wants MS?? and korea is and was 1st in line.....
MS is further along the process so it is being done first.

My question is with all the expense and effort put into MS to get it to the beginning of commercial production why would you want to toss it all out now and start over because we have BR? In another 9 months when we get "Big Green" should we scrap BR because BG is more flexible?