Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have made a breakthrough in fabricating synthetic spider silk, which is stronger than steel yet lightweight and flexible. Professor Fuzhong Zhang has been working to increase the yield of silk threads produced from microbes while maintaining its desirable properties. With the help of an engineered mussel foot protein, Zhang created new spider silk fusion proteins that have eightfold higher yields and substantially improved strength and toughness. This discovery could revolutionize clothing manufacturing by providing a more eco-friendly alternative to traditional textiles. The synthetic silk is made from cheap feedstock using engineered bacteria, making it a renewable and biodegradable replacement for petroleum-derived fiber materials like nylon and polyester. The research has the potential to reduce the environmental impacts of the fashion industry, which produces an estimated 100 billion garments and 92 million tons of waste each year. Zhang’s team plans to expand the tunable properties of their synthetic silk fibers to meet the exact needs of each specialized market.
Fashion merges with innovation in lab-created silk – The Source
