If they are so OK with the spiders, why are they all wearing protective face-wear?
Anyway, this is a potentially useful video for teaching genetics. Captivating, good graphics, a balance of the icky and the cute, etc.
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« What if ... | Main | Naked Mole Rats »
Frankenstein's Spider Goat Teaching Video
Category: Science Education
Posted on: November 26, 2007 11:25 AM, by Greg Laden
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Comments
I heard about this ages ago and have yet to hear anything else since. I can't help but wonder if it didn't really pan out. I'm willing to bet that the way the silk is dispensed is also crucial to it's physical properties. Not to mention that spiders tend to pull down their webs nightly... so I can't imagine they are made to last too horribly long. Also, are we sure that it's just one gene that makes this particular silk?
I wonder, why goats? Why not just modify silk worms to produce spider silk? Why not skip the goats and just farm it from bacteria? Seems rather... inefficient to me.
Posted by: Nathaniel | November 26, 2007 12:58 PM
The goat silk venture seems to have been a failure, Nexia was able to have goats produce the protein in their milk, but was unable to make it into a commercially usable fiber.
Posted by: _Arthur | November 26, 2007 3:21 PM