Gene Editing Spiders to Produce Red Fluorescent Silk
1 min read
Summary
Scientists at the University of Bayreuth inserted a gene for a red fluorescent protein into common house spiders, making their silk glow.
This was the first attempt at gene editing on spiders, which are fiddly to handle and have genome duplication characteristics.
The research, detailed in a paper in Angewandte Chemie, also disabled a gene affecting eye development in the spiders, to demonstrate the feasibility of customising and studying spider silk production.
It opens up the possibility of mass-producing the strong and flexible material for human use.
Other research has aimed to mass produce spider silk synthetically, but this is the first time it has been reported that a genetically modified spider has produced coloured silk.
