Utah State opens facility to scale up commercialisation potential of synthetic spider silk.
The Utah State University has opened a Bioproducts Scale-Up Facility at the centre of its Innovation Campus to maximise the commercialisation potential of synthetic spider silk.
The 70,000 square feet facility will house production equipment that will enable the researchers at Utah State to produce large volumes of the spider silk protein, originally developed at the institution’s science technology and research faculty by professor Randy Lewis.
Spider silk has a variety of potential commercial purposes. The material is stronger than Kevlar, more conductive than copper, and more elastic than nylon. It can be deployed as a fibre, medical scaffolding, cosmetics, sealants, 3D printing, and in many other ways.
Scott Hinton, director of the Synthetic Biomanufacturing Institute, said: “It’s a significant milestone for USU to have a new material like spider silk emerge from our research enterprise. In this new facility, our faculty and students will have an opportunity to further explore, grow and develop this intriguing new material for a wide variety of commercial applications.”
