In Nova Scotia, a startup developing fibers from collagen and spider silk has raised $700,000 in an oversubscribed follow-on funding round. 3D BioFibR produces naturally sourced, high-value biofibers for use in biomedical engineering, green textiles, defense, and aerospace applications. The company’s dry-spinning process is faster than current manufacturing processes and preserves the natural properties of […]
In Michigan, Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. has begun the scale up of its recently announced second generation Dragon Silk. This new material was specially designed at Kraig Labs’ Michigan research headquarters for application in protective textiles, particularly for military and police, where increased strength and decreased flexibility are expected to provide improved protection. Scale up […]
In Michigan, Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc., a leading developer of spider silk based fibers implemented two major advancements in the development of next generation recombinant spider silk fibers. These advancements are the result of new equipment and recently employed protocols at their R&D headquarters in Michigan. These new approaches build on the existing protocols, but […]
The U.S. military is getting as close to becoming Superman and Spider-Man superheroes as humanly possible with their new ballistic shootpack panels made from Kraig Biocraft Laboratories’ proprietary Dragon Silk material. The spider silk material is not only stronger than steel, it’s stronger than Kevlar, the usual bulletproof material used for military and police personnel. […]
In Michigan, Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.’s subsidiary, Prodigy Textiles, signed three agreements with local farming cooperatives in Quang Nam province, Vietnam to produce the mulberry necessary to support Kraig’s recombinant spider silk production. This collaboration with local farmers is a key element of Kraig Labs commercialization strategy, integrating advancements in high tech agriculture and a […]
In Michigan, Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc., a developer of spider silk based fibers, provided an update on progress towards the commercialization of spider silk technology following last week’s announcement of the formation of its Vietnamese subsidiary, Prodigy Textiles Co,. Ltd., its main production arm for spider silk technologies. Kraig Biocraft is gearing up production of […]
Since roughly three minutes after the Chinese figured out how to use silkworms, people have been dreaming of farming spider silk, for its exotic qualities of flexibility and strength. Spider Silk Strength: Stronger Than Steel Material Toughness Tensile Strength Weight Dragline spider silk 120,000-160,000 1,100-2,900 1.18-1.36 Kevlar 30,000-50,000 2,600-4,100 1.44 Steel 2,000-6,000 300-2,000 7.84 The […]
In Utah, Utah State University has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract with Salt Lake City based Technology Holding LLC from the U.S. Army to continue research and development of Spider Silk manufacturing. The total contract award is $1 million and is managed through the Army Research Office. Among the goals […]
New physical materials — stronger than steel, stiffer than Kevlar, lightweight, conductive, non-toxic, and highly absorbent. New liquid fuels and chemicals — strong on performance, price, and emissions. New edible materials — lighter in unhealthy fats, and delivering more targeted nutritional benefit with fewer side effects from obesity to diabetes. A revolution in physical materials is occurring […]
In Germany, AMSilk and Fraunhofer Institute have joined together to develop a new spin process for making high performance fibers from AMSilk’s spider silk proteins. This collaboration will match AMSilk’s material and biochemical expertise with Fraunhofer’s expertise in developing spin processes for biopolymers. The partners expect to deliver a new process for making artificial spider […]
