Cell culture’s spider silk road
At the north end of the Utah State University (USU) campus in Logan, Utah, Randy Lewis’ lab in the new USTAR Bioinnovations Center is on the cusp of a materials science gold rush.
Lewis’ gold isn’t hidden deep in the snow-capped peaks just beyond his corner office though; it’s buried in the bacteria, silkworms, genetically modified alfalfa sprouts, and even goat’s milk found in his lab. These are the recombinant biofactories that Lewis and his colleagues have harnessed to generate what many hope will be a new bioengineering treasure: spider silk… Read more at BioTechniques.com. (PDF)
Biotechnically Speaking 