Got Silk?
Spider goats are sweeping the nation!
Randy Lewis and other researchers from the University of Wyoming and Utah State University have found a way to inject spiders' dragline silk gene into goat embryos. This causes goats to be able to produce the protein in their milk.
Taking a look at these goats who had the gene injected in them, you can clearly see there is no difference. They look and act just like any normal goat would. Injecting the gene is harmless.
Is there a difference?
Besides the dragline silk gene, nothing is different about the goat. Scientists have proven that the gene doesn't change anything else in the goat except the its milk.
Spider Goat
when someone thinks of a goat that produces spider silk, this cartoon is most likely what pops into their head.
Golden Orb-Weaver Spider
This is the spider the scientists use to get the dragline silk gene.
How is it done?
1. Scientists take the genetic code from the golden orb-weaver,because their silk is stronger than human ligaments.
2. Then, they inject the gene, from the golden orb-weaver, into the DNA of an embryo of a goat.
3. Next, they plant the embryos into a mother goat.
4. Last, 18 months after the mutant goat is born, the scientists will be able to extract the silk from the milk by skimming the fat out of the milk. With the same milk, then the scientists can extract the silk.