Warwick has created the world's first textile using genetically engineered spider silk from Kraig. Warwick is a leader in engineering and development of advanced technical textiles and protective materials. Kraig Biocraft Laboratories is a developer of advanced spider silk based fibers. The Monster Silk textiles are the first of many textiles that will be created as part of Kraig’s joint development agreement with Warwick.
The first Monster Silk knits have proved that genetically engineered spider silk works well with existing manufacturing methods. The creation of these knits is a huge milestone in the progress toward making genetically engineered spider silk available for industrial and consumer applications. And these advanced materials process well on existing machinery.
Spider silk has been the subject of advanced research and development efforts for years because it has exceptional strength, elasticity and abrasion resistance as well as numerous potential technical textile applications. This fiber would have advanced medical, composite and possibly ballistic applications, among others — spider silk is said to be stronger than aramid and ten times as strong as steel.
A hybrid silk produced by transgenic silkworms is well on its way to commercialization primarily for traditional silk applications including apparel and medical applications such as sutures.
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