Now researchers at the University of Massachusetts report progress in creating spider's silk using genetic engineering techniques.
Dragline silk is the fiber from which spiders make the scaffolding of their webs.
It has been estimated by scientists to be at least five times as strong as steel, twice as elastic as nylon, waterproof and stretchable. Tirrell reports that the primary constituents of spider silk turn out to be the two simplest amino acids, glycine and alanine, and he notes that researchers at Cornell have recently discovered that the alignment of these amino acids is responsible for spider silk's incredible strength. Tirrell and other material scientists are currently using such techniques to create a whole new class of bioengineered materials. Basically, they clone a specific gene and insert it into bacteria such as Escherichia coli. The bacteria then manufacture the desired protein.