Researchers from the Swedish SLU & Karolinska mass produce synthetic spider silk

Some time ago MPI Halle, Germany, produced super strong spider web by coating it with ALD (Mato Knez et al). At that time the research seemed like a peculiar thing. Now however, Swedish researchers from SLU and Karoliska can mass produce synthetic spider silk at high rate and in large quantities. So all you have to do now is to integrate an ALD reactor into the machine below ...

Full story from SLU : LINK

Biomimetic spinning of artificial spider silk (figure above used with permision, SLU)

a) Highly concentrated spider silk protein solution in a syringe is pumped through a pulled glass capillary with a tip size of 10-30 mm, with the tip submerged into a low pH aqueous collection bath. Fibers can be taken up from the collection bath (arrow) and rolled up onto frames. Photo: Marlene Andersson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/Nature Chemical Biology

b) Photo of a fiber as it is spun in the low pH aqueous collection bath. Photo: Marlene Andersson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/Nature Chemical Biology

c) Wet fiber nest in low pH buffer. Photo: Lena Holm, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/Nature Chemical Biology

d) As-spun fibers on a frame. Photo: Marlene Andersson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/Nature Chemical Biology

Fiber diameter in (b-c) is approximately 40 micrometre and in (d) 15 micrometre. Scale bar in (a) 3cm, (b) 3 mm, and (c-d) 5 mm.

Formation of a continuous as-spun solid fiber of artificial spider silk in an acidic aqueous buffer collection bath [embedded Youtube : Published by: Anna Rising & Jan Johansson (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences & Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)]