Weaving a Web of Knowledge

Weaving a Web of Knowledge

Silkworms lured Randy Lewis into unraveling the mysteries of spider silk genetics—and the professor of molecular biology, known as Spiderman to many in Laramie, Wyo., (pop. 27,204) has become a leading figure in research that may someday result in finer surgical sutures or stronger parachute cords and bulletproof vests.

It began in 1989 when a San Diego company asked Lewis if genetics could be used to replicate silkworm silk. “It became very clear that biotechnology could not compete with the silkworm,’’ Lewis says. But he wondered if spider silk could and secured a research grant to find out. Spider silk, he knew, is waterproof, stretchable, five times stronger than steel, and twice as elastic as nylon.

Research at the University of Wyoming by Lewis and his colleagues has isolated the gene that lets spiders make the protein from which they spin silk. The idea is that by putting the cloned gene into other organisms, those organisms can then produce the same protein, from which machines can spin the silk.

“You can’t do it with spiders,” Lewis says, since the amount of protein each spider can make is too small to be profitable.

Some spider silk is elastic enough to absorb at least twice as much energy as the strongest nylon available, so a Canadian company, Nexia Biotechnologies Inc., is using Lewis’ findings to develop stronger bulletproof vests and parachute cords for military use. “If you dump a tank out of an airplane and want to have it hit the ground without collapsing the chute, it would be nice, when the chute opens, to be able to absorb all that shock,” Lewis says. Moreover, spider silk can absorb three times as much energy as Kevlar, the material now used in bulletproof vests.

The company is also exploring medical uses, such as extremely fine sutures that could be useful for things like eye surgery, where it is important to have small tools.

Jeffrey Turner, Nexia’s president, says dragline spider silk, the kind spiders use to attach themselves to the ceiling while crawling on it, is “the toughest material known to man, and that alone makes it the Holy Grail of material science. Randy’s work was really pivotal in allowing us to have the genetic base to move forward.”

No products are in the marketplace as yet. Clinical trials on some medical devices are expected in the next year or so, however, and Turner says the company may be making some products, such as biodegradable fishing line, by late this year.

When Lewis, 51, isn’t delving into the mysteries of spider silk, the father of two is on a mission to interest children in science.

“Spiders don’t squeeze silk out like toothpaste. They pull it out like floss,’’ Lewis tells elementary students from the Laramie Christian School who are visiting his lab. The five boys and five girls from Laramie Christian cried out, “Holy cow,” “That’s BIG,” and “Cool! Cool! Cool!” as Lewis showed off his caged non-poisonous spiders.

“Now we’ll take a look at the spiders, if you promise not to scream. I hate screams,” he told the youngsters. Nobody screamed, as they crowded around while Lewis allowed a golden orb weaver to crawl on his arms and clothing. Most of the children wanted the spiders to crawl on them, too.

Did they like it? “Sort of,” says 9-year-old Shauna Plunkett.

Lisa Plunkett, who is Shauna’s mother as well as the teacher of the third-grade class, says Lewis speaks to the children on their own level.

Lewis says his main motive in bringing children to the lab, or going to their classrooms, is getting young people interested in science, and he thinks it works. But he sees another possible benefit.

“If our stuff keeps going, they can say they knew something about it before everybody else did.”

W. Dale Nelson is a freelance writer in Laramie, Wyo.

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