1.0 INTRODUCTION:
Spider silk has long been admired by scientists for its exceptional strength and elasticity, this admiration has led to many years of research to find a similar product that they can mass-produce. Due to spiders’ cannibalistic and territorial nature, alongside their inadequate production of silk, they are ill suited for commercial farming. This report will examine how scientists have genetically modified goats to produce large quantities of spider-like silk for use in industry, and examines some of the issues surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Gram for gram, spider silk is five times stronger than steel and three times stronger than synthetic materials such as Kevlar. Spider silk is strong enough to stop a bullet at maximum velocity, elastic enough to stretch many times its original length, absorb moisture in order to stay flexible and effective at binding wounds and promoting healing (Nexia Biotechnologies). These properties are what makes spider silk such a desirable material; it is strong and light and can be used as a replacement for many materials such as steel, Kevlar and fishing line.
Spider silk is a protein. When inside a spider it takes the form of a liquid, but once released from a spider’s spinnerets becomes a solid. When in its liquid state, molecules link together to form a larger molecule called fibroin. A single strand of spider silk is in fact made up of many threads, sometimes numbering in the thousands, released together (Appendix: A).
2.0 THE ORIGINAL SPIDER-MEN:
Jeffery Turner and his team of bio-scientists at Nexia Biotechnologies; alongside Randolph Lewis, Ming Xu and Michael Hinman from the University of Wyoming; have taken the genes responsible for a spider’s silk produc...
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The spider’s web is in a corner connected to the tile wall to wile wall and floor, in such a usual spot and it was miraculous that it kept her alive. The miracle she celebrates through out the essay is the death of the moth you once helped killed as the spider killed the sixteen moths who lay behind her toilet.
While working, there were people who would come from remote areas and watch her weave skillfully. On page 19, the text says, “If Athene herself were to come were to come down and compete with me, she could do no better than I.” Her bold action was challenging Athene, a goddess, to a weaving competition. Additionally, on page 19, “Arachne herself flushed red for a moment, for she had really believed that the goddess would hear her.” Arachne took an action that could possibly embarrass herself. During their competition, Arachne had designed “a pattern of which showed evil or unworthy actions of the gods, how they had deceived fair maidens, resorted to trickery, and appeared on earth from time to time in the form poor and humble people.” and Athene had designed “a border of twined branches of the olive, Athene’s favorite tree, while in the middle, figures began to appear. As they looked at the glowing colors, the spectators realized that Athene was weaving into her pattern a last warning to Arachne.” Athene had created that embroidery to warn Arachne, and Arachne made an embroidery to disgrace the goddess. Arachne’s bold action caused Athene to be angry and then turned Arachne into a spider. Arachne’s consequence for her bold action was her descendants and herself to turn into
Spider monkey’s live in the tropical rain forrest and are best known for their incredible prehensile tails. I think it goes without saying that their tails adapted to have dermal ridges that hold and grab on to much tighter than any other prehensile tail in the animal kingdom because they lack functional thumbs, and the tails act as fingertips in replacement. Generally speaking, they hang out in Central and South America but sometimes show up as far away as Mexico. Their epic prehensile tails, long arms and teeny13.25 pound bodies allow them to feast high up in the trees on fruits, leaves, bird eggs and spiders. Although their interaction with the environment is interesting, so is their relationship with one anot...
Pamela Ronald, a plant geneticist, presented a Ted Talk “The case for engineering our food”, Ronald points out that engineered genetics for our plants is not harmful, yet better for our environment and health. “Now, genetic modification is not new; virtually everything we eat has been genetically modified in some manner”(Ronald).
It is five times stronger, yet the same weight as steel. Kevlar Aramid fiber is an improved material, which is an extremely lightweight, man-made organic fiber. Kevlar fiber has a combination of properties, which have made Kevlar a very useful material. These include, high strength, low weight, high chemical resistance and high cut resistance. This material does not corrode or rust and is also unaffected when placed in or under water.
…the world is like an enormous spider web and if you touch it, however lightly, at any point the vibration ripples to the remotest perimeter and the drowsy spider feels the tingle and is drowsy no more but springs out to fling the gossamer coils about you who have touched the web and then inject the black, numbing poison under your hide.(188-89)
Vectran is 5 to 10 times stronger than steel. They have another rapidly emerging fiber called spider silk. The resulting spider silk is biosteel. A strand of biosteel can be up to 20 times stronger than a strand of steel. To have a hard body armor, you have to make it out of thick ceramic or metal plates.
Mao Dun, author of "Spring Silkworms", was a twentieth century Chinese novelist, critic, organizer, editor, and advocate for Chinese Communism. According to David Wang, Mao Dun was one of the most versatile Chinese literati among the May Fourth generation. Mao Dun was an advocate and practitioner of European naturalism. Motivated by history and politics, Mao Dun has introduced western literary ideas to China in his novels. As a left wing writer Mao Dun focuses on the peasant's point of view and relies on his depiction of reality to evoke change. A good example of this style of writing is the story "Spring Silkworms".
A Comparison of the Chemical Structures and Production Methods of Silk and Artificial Silk Abstract Despite their seemingly similar exteriors, the chemical structures and production methods of natural silk and the artificial silks, rayon and nylon are quite different. Silk yarn, extracted from the.. from the cocoon of the Bombyx mori moth, is made up of fibroin molecules with beta-pleated. sheet of secondary structures. The fibroin molecules consist of crystalline fibers constructed of regularly paralleled, unfolded polypeptide chains of polyglycylalanine mixed with an amorphous. part.
Cain, M. L., Urry, L. A., & Reece, J. B. (2010). Campbell Biology. Benjamin Cummings.
This book was given to me by a good friend who knew that I had an interest in Asia. I chose to read it because it was a true story and was told that it was a good read.
In this day and age, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have become a topic of large interest in the media. GMOs are defined as an organism whose genetic structure has been altered by incorporating a gene that will express a desirable trait (Dresbach et al. al. 2013). Often times, these traits that are selected are either beneficial to the consumer or producer. Currently, GMOs are being created at a higher rate than ever before and are being used in the foods that we eat.
Subsequently, the spider, “holding up a moth” draws out the evil or cruelty, which is nature. Frost accents this in the subsequent verse, “Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth” (Frost, 593). His play on words here is prodigious, “a white piece of satin cloth” (Frost, 593) this stanza demonstrates ...
Arachnida is a subphylum of Arthropoda, consisting of over 100 000 species, many of them being parasites which can carry disease. They are found in all environments, and mostly have eight legs, which is a feature, together with the fact that they do not have wings or antennae, often used to distinguish them from the other subphyla, though there are exceptions. They include spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites. Their bodies are divided up into three parts: the cephalothorax, the opisthosoma and the thorax, and use a type of lung for gas exchange. Most Arachnids are carnivorous, and eat pre-digested insects and other small animals. They reproduce using internal reproduction usually lay eggs, except for the scorpion which bears living young. The word ‘Arachnid’ comes from the Greek word ‘Arachne’ meaning ‘spider’.
Oils, balls, swabs, bandages, tissue, paper, napkins, diapers, socks, underwear, shirts, shorts, sweaters, pants, coats, towels, linen, cushions, drapery, upholstery, rugs, carpet, comforters, mattresses, insulation, filtration, and many other things that are used daily by everyone are composed of, or inspired by cotton. Cotton is a soft, fluffy, naturally occurring fiber plant that can be processed into an array of materials and goods.