Is that a Spider Web you’re Wearing?
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008It might not be long before we’re buying clothes made out of spider webs. Don’t laugh, a company in Japan is talking about creating socks, fishing lines, and stockings out of spider-web silk.
For many years now, scientists around the world have been try to find ways of mass producing spider silk. And now, a team of scientists at Shinshu University have had a breakthrough. They’ve devised a way of injecting spider genes into silkworms, which will result in a much stronger silk. This in turn, could lead to a new “super silk”.
Also, Grado Zero Espace and The University of California, have created the world’s first spider-woven fabric produced using modern processes. Apparently the spider woven fabric “feels like silk, is as elastic as nylon and is thirty times stronger than Kevlar”.
At this stage, it’s not entirely clear how eco-friendly these developments will turn out. But they are likely to bring spider web silk one step closer to the mainstream markets. And that’s got to be a good thing for the natural fiber market.
