Scientists Create Spider-Man Inspired Fiber 'Biocable' That Mimics Comic Hero's Spider Silk
Ceage SottoFrom comic books to actual reality, scientists have now discovered Spider-Man's web. It's not actually the "Biocable" created by Oscorp in the comic's, but it's similar to a wild arachnid's web.
Several scientists have created a synthetic spider silk after years of research. The synthetic silk shares the same properties as the original web and they can mass produce it on a large scale, according to Live Science.
The team behind the discovery mimicked the same conditions found in the spider's own silk glands. They combined spidroin genes from two different species of spiders to create a hybrid spider silk gene. The scientists called it "NT2RepCT."
Spidroins are the main protein present in a spider's silk and it makes up the bulk of spider silk fibers. The "NT2RepCT" gene is coded for a completely new protein from both species. Then the scientists inserted the gene into the DNA of bacteria and it produced a highly concentrated solution of cloudy and viscous spider silk protein.
The scientists then pumped the solution through a thin glass capillary. The action mimics what spiders do in the wild, the shearing produced the world's first synthetic spider web. The process produced a staggering length of silk that came from a 1-liter flask. The scientists claimed that they produced 3,280 feet of a kilometer of the synthetic spider web.
However, the scientists also admit that it's not as strong as its natural counterpart. In the excerpts of their paper, the web is not as durable as the ones created by the spiders but they are still finding ways to strengthen the silk.
The race for replicating a spider silk is nothing new. Several studies have been made to produce one of the world's strongest and flexible biomaterials. The National Science Foundation funded a project to create spider silk from a goat milk in 2010.
Future endeavors will soon unlock the mystery behind a spider's web. For now, Spiderman's "Biocable" will still remain in comic books.
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