Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 08:14 am
your spiderman cosplay is about to become super realistic
We are living in the future, and finally, we can be try the train stunt from Spiderman II. Coming to a Wal-Mart near you.
...do we call them spiderworms? There is nothing about that word that doesn't make me flinch.
Researchers have tried for years to get the best of both worlds - super-strong silk in industrial quantities - by transplanting genes from spiders into worms. But the resulting genetically modified worms have not produced enough spider silk until now.
GM worms produced by a team led by Professor Don Jarvis of Wyoming University seem to be producing a composite of worm and spider silk in large amounts - which the researchers say is just as tough as spider silk.
...do we call them spiderworms? There is nothing about that word that doesn't make me flinch.