University of Akron biologist, in a lab where cobwebs are welcome, is finding out about these creatures` incredible silk.

Saturday, April 18, 2009
by John Mangels
Plain Dealer Science Writer

University of Akron biologist Todd Blackledge studies the silk of spiders for clues to their evolutionary history. Here he examines a primitive, non-sticky kind of silk called cribellate.

Let`s say you`re a commando -- a Navy SEAL or a member of the Army`s top-secret Delta Force -- and you`re readying for a long and dangerous mission in hostile territory.

You`ll be on your own and on foot, so you`ll have to travel light. Still, you`ll need the basics: food, weapons, camouflage, climbing gear, a blanket and tent, a trip wire to warn you of an enemy`s approach, and restraints to capture him. The equipment must be rugged and portable.

How about one item that can do it all? That`s far beyond the military`s capabilities. Even legendary techno-outfitters like James Bond`s "Q" and Batman`s Lucius Fox couldn`t pull it off. But spiders can.

Spider silk is nature`s miracle fiber. It`s ultra-strong, versatile, durable, replenishable, even edible. Spiders churn out 100 yards a day. They can dangle from it like a trapeze artist, coat it with sticky glue to snare prey, swaddle their eggs in it, or add a dash of color so the strands blend in or stand out from their surroundings. When spiders are done with a web, they can eat it to recycle its ingredients.

Pound for pound, "silk is about three times tougher than Kevlar," which would make a synthetic version ideal for medical and industrial uses, said University of Akron biologist Todd Blackledge. "This synthetic fiber that we`ve engineered for bullet-resistant armor, kayaks, things like that -- silk is three times better at stopping moving objects. It`s a combination of being both strong and stretchy. It`s really extraordinary."

Blackledge runs a lab devoted to unraveling the evolutionary and biomechanical secrets of spider silk - one of only about half a dozen such facilities in the world. It`s crawling with furry tarantulas, shy black widows, colorful golden orb spiders, and enough cobwebs to drive a janitor nuts. It has a machine able to measure exactly how much force it takes to break a single, almost invisible, strand of silk.

Blackledge is interested not just in spider silk`s amazing biomechanical properties (which he and other University of Akron colleagues hope to mimic in manmade fibers), but also in what silk and the variety of webs spun from it reveal about how spiders evolved.

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