Spider Silk: The Super Material of the Future

Spider Silk THE SUPER MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE CC BY 2.0 @ brenbot comprised of protein Spider chains for strength Silk is and unlinked areas for flexibility. Silk from the MADAGASCAR BARK SPIDER can be up to 5: 10 At least CCO 1.0 by GalliasM stronger than most forms of steel Spider silk is extremely resilient distinct threads are able to absorb It's more elastic than a rubber band 3x as much energy as Kevlar Kevlar is one of the most sturdy materials weight-to-weight Carbon fibers will instantly break if elongated more than SPIDER ŞILK HAS A GREAT COMBINÁTION OF. STRENGTH t. + ELASTICITY - 1% It's mechanically superior to most other fibers; natural or synthetic Spider silk is also water absorbent, water shrinks and tightens the thread Due to all its attributes, spider silk has the potential to help with applications in Medicine Military Construction DENSITY TOUGHNESS ELASTICITY amount of mass amount of energy stretch % per unit of volume absorbed before before breaking [Gram/Centimeter g/cm) breaking [%] [Megajoule/Meter" MJ/m] 1.3 arom 180. 27% Spider Silk g/ cm³ MJ / m 6. 0.8% Steel g/ cm3 MJ / m? 1.4prm 50 2.7% Kevlar /cm3 MJ / m HOW CAN WE USE SPIDER SILK? HOW CAN WE NOT? Bulletproof Clothing The hybrid skin could repel a slow-moving bullet from a 22-caliber rifle in 2012: Scientists created thin, lightweight body armor from spider silk proteins •The proteins were woven into artificial silk fibers •The silk was grafted with human epidermis THE SPIDER-SILK STANDARD KEVLAR VESTS USE •This hybrid skin has potential to be 3x as strong as a Kevlar vest 33 layers MATERIAL ONLY USED 4 layers Underwater Adhesive Artificial Skin The US Navy has funded two years of research at Utah State University for burn victims Artificial skin requires very specific conditions to grow Researching the construction of a spider silk adhesive that can work in wet conditions • Collagen or synthetic fibers are used to allow artificial skin to merge with natural skin (these materials are weak and don't biodegrade quickly) The Navy granted $173,000 for research to find out if Many spiders live near water or in rainforests German scientists have experimented with spider silk to make artificial skin 1. They harvested golden orb web silk spider silk proteins could webs seem to be mostly unaffected by water be used underwater they envision a type of super, one-sided Velcro-like fastener. 2. They wove the threads across steel frame 3. They seeded the silk mesh with skin-building cells & nutrients • Tests will involve creating disks and tapes from spider silk proteins Healthy skin grew on the mesh Stronger, more flexible and more biodegradable than current artificial skin •These will be attached and pressed to multiple surfaces • They will measure the amount of force required to pull objects apart • Spider silk also appears to aid in regeneration of Airbags neurons and blood vessels some silks may have antimicrobial properties for faster healing Some companies are trying to develop spider silk airbags which would envelop the person like a web Surgical Sutures Surgeons currently use thread or silkworm silk for stitching spider silk threads are even thinner and stronger. This could be hugely important for nerve or eye surgery CC BY 2.0 by adam'b CC BY 2.0 by Zdenko Zivkovic • biodegradable water bottles SCIENTISTS ARE ALSO WORKING ON USING SPIDER SILK TO MAKE • flexible bridge suspension cables unrippable writing paper CC BY 2.0 by awsheffield Who milks the spiders? Nobody "milks" spiders, but how DO we get all this spider silk we need? Geņetically modified plants and animals provide much more silk than spiders Spiders are aggressive, territorial, and cannibalistic making them difficult to farm Spider Goats Alfalfa Silkworms Photograph via BBC CC BY 2.0 by eggrole CC BY 2.0 by mmmavocado In 2010, researchers from the University of Wyoming have put spiders' silk-spinning genes into goats Unmodified silkworms produce a very These same researchers plan to put silk genes into alfalfa plants in the future fragile silk, but they produce a lot of it SILKWORMS ARE CAPABLE OF SPINNING NEARLY THEY HARVEST THE SILK PROTEIN FROM THE GOATS MILK ALFALFA IS EASY TO GROW A KILOMETER OF SILK IN A FEW DAYS ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THESE GOATS END UP IT ALSO HAS A HIGH PROTEIN CONTENT (20-25%) IDEAL THIS SILK IS ALREADY WIDELY CULTIVATED WITH THE SPIDER GENE. SEVEN KIDS WERE TESTED AND FOR PRODUCING LARGE QUANTITIES OF SPIDER SILK PROTEIN IN 1999 RESEARCHERS AT RAJAMANGALA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THAILAND DEVELOPED BODY Scientists have now been able to modify silkworms to produce a hybrid of ONLY THREE HAD THE SPIDER PROTEIN GENE ARMOR USING SILKWORM SILK worm silk spider silk 16 LAYERS researchers THE SPIDER SILK will collect PROTEIN CAN BE of the silk stopped a 9mm bullet milk from this hybrid is as strong as spider silk PURIFIED IN HIGH the goats QUANTITIES This would mean fast production of silk that is 100% tougher than all other silks The ultimate OTHER THAN THE PRODUCTION OF modification SPIDER SILK PROTEINS, THE GOATS would be ARE JUST LIKE ANY OTHER GOAT silkworms with bark 10X STRONGER THAN KEVLAR spider genes CC BY 2.0 by Alberto CCO 1.0 by GalliasM Soldiers would have super lightweight bulletproof clothing • Burn victims would have much better quality artificial skin • Airbags would not cause injury • Bandages could help regenerate skin cells • The Navy could attach adhesives underwater WHAT WOULD ALL THIS SPIDER SILK MEAN FOR THE WORLD? SierraCases.com To find out more about the toughest materials on earth... Sources: http://phys.org/news194539934.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2658765 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/strong-materials.html http://web.mit.edu/course/3/3.064/www/slides/Ko_spider_silk.pdf http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130807/NEWS04/308070038 http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/body-armor-spider-silk-1210152.htm http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/6-spider-silk-superpowers#slide-7 http://inhabitat.com/scientists-unlock-secret-of-spider-silk-which-is-5-times-stronger-than-steel DEVELOPED BY N NOWSOURCING