Spider silk has the potential for industrial use in applications including ligament and tendon repair, advanced coatings, and bioadhesives.
Utah State University recently received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract with Salt Lake City-based Technology Holding LLC from the U.S. Army to continue research and development of spider silk manufacturing. The total contract is $1 million and is being managed through the Army Research Office. Under the terms of the SBIR contract, Utah State and Technology Holding will deliver to the Army multiple lengths of fiber made from synthetic spider silk to test for the uniformity of the manufacturing process, multiple swatches of knit material, raw spider silk fiber for strength and elasticity testing, and an economic analysis of the cost of manufacturing.
“One of the strongest materials known to man, spider silk has almost infinite applications, including in the defense, medical and automotive industries,” said Randy Lewis, biology research professor and director of the USU Synthetic Bioproducts Center and Utah Science Technology. “The challenge has always been developing ways in which to produce synthetic spider silk in quantities sufficient enough for mass manufacturing. Recently, working with Technology Holding, the USU Synthetic Bioproducts Center has been making great strides in developing processes and technologies to more efficiently produce and process synthetic spider silk, which triggered the SBIR contract from the Army.”