A research team from the University of Bayreuth in Germany used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology to modify spider genes for the first time, allowing spiders to spit out red fluorescent silk threads. This achievement was published in the recent journal "German Angewandte Chemie", opening up a new path for the development of new biomaterials.
Spider silk is nature's "biological steel wire", which is not only tear-resistant and elastic, but also very light and biodegradable. If the spider silk production process can be precisely regulated through gene editing, it is expected to develop bionic silk materials with better performance and be widely used in many fields.
CRISPR-Cas9 technology can accurately locate and cut specific DNA fragments, and achieve gene knockout or insertion through the cell's self-repair mechanism. In the latest study, the team prepared an injection solution containing gene editing components and red fluorescent protein gene sequences, injected it into the unfertilized eggs of female spiders, and then mated with male spiders. What is exciting is that the offspring of the gene-edited spiders successfully spit out red fluorescent silk, which indicates that the exogenous gene sequence has been stably inserted into the silk protein.
The team has demonstrated for the first time that CRISPR technology can be used to customize spider silk proteins. This breakthrough not only provides new ideas for improving the tensile strength of spider silk, but also opens up new ideas for the development of functional silk proteins. In the future, this "programmable" spider silk may shine in the fields of medicine, military industry, environmental protection, etc.
(Original title: "Gene editing technology allows spiders to spit colorful silk")
