Study shows spider silk bioproduction presents opportunities and challenges

Spinning at scale

One of the biggest challenges in spider silk production is how to produce it at scale, because, as it turns out, spiders are very territorial and cannibalistic, making large spider farms problematic (and terrifying).

To combat this, scientists have turned to genetically modifying other living organisms to carry the silk-producing gene—a process called heterologous expression. Some scientists have even spliced spider-silk genes into goats who produce the silk in their milk. Others are looking at alfalfa, silkworms, yeast and even bacteria as possible producers, although the silk can be toxic to its hosts. Reducing this toxicity remains an active area of research.