Itsy bitsy breakthrough: Icelandic students look to produce Darwin’s bark spider silk via yeast
In Iceland, researchers are developing a biodegradable, spider silk-based material that could eventually replace nylon thread in a range of applications. Led by five master’s students and one undergraduate student at the University of Iceland’s Life and Environmental Sciences program, the project is engineering the yeast Pichia pastoris to produce the silk produced by Darwin’s bark spider. The work is also the first Icelandic project to participate in the prestigious iGEM synthetic biology competition.
Category: Chemicals & Materials
