• Question: Is it possible to weave spider's silk?

    Asked by wizzyg12 to Claire, Matt, Sam on 27 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      Spider’s silk is great because it is actually really really tough for it’s size – some of them up to 10 times tougher than Kevlar! But I think it would be impractical to try to get enough of it from actual spiders if we wanted to weave it.

      But people are trying to figure out how to artificially produce it, if they can figure out exactly how a spider makes his silk (something I am not sure we understand fully yet)

      But I guess yeah – if we could make it, then it would be great to weave it into body armour and stuff!

    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      There are goats that have been genetically engineered to make silk instead of milk! Normally silk comes from silk worms, but like Claire says it could be a good material to use as it’s very strong.

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