Has anyone heard of a Transgenic Spidergoat?

[Moonbug]

I just came across this video and was amazed that they have goats that produce the spider silk. I wonder if we will eventually be able to buy products with the spidergoat silk. That would be really cool!

The goats in the BBC video are cute!

[YOUTUBE]pZk5g1kMztk[/YOUTUBE]

I wonder if you can drink the milk. Not that I would want to. I don’t care for goat milk.

[video]http://www.richannel.org/transgenic-spidergoats[/video]

 

[findi]

Yes, Quite amazing; I believe bacteria is also now producing spider silk, and that goats are being used to produce either medications or chemicals useful in medication. Firefly genes transplanted into rabbits so that they glow when hopping, more to come I'm sure!

 

[Masurai]

I just hope they don't turn out like the spidergoats featured in the tabletop rpg After the Bomb lol

 

[The Snark]

Lots of good info here, including goat synthesis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_silk

 

[Moonbug]

Lots of good info here, including goat synthesis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_silk

Thanks, Snark!! It does have a lot of good information. It says that they haven't been able to produce the commercial quantities yet.

It is scary that Korea is using the E. coli bacteria to make spider silk. That doesn't seem like a good idea to use something that could make us sick. uke:

 

[The Snark]

Thanks, Snark!! It does have a lot of good information. It says that they haven't been able to produce the commercial quantities yet.

It is scary that Korea is using the E. coli bacteria to make spider silk. That doesn't seem like a good idea to use something that could make us sick. uke:

Actually, Escherichia coli K-12 is sort of the bacterial equivalent of the Drosophila melanogaster. The reliable workhorse for bacterial genetic research. E- coli is an extremely common bacteria that has an established residence in virtually every human in the world. It is only when it wanders off and gets lost in the wrong territory that it causes problems.

 

[Furret]

People are dying of cancer every day and scientists are wasting their time by playing around with goats and making them spin webbing
(just a personal thought)

 

[mikem]

Not all scientists specialize in the medical field.

 

[lizardminion]

People are dying of cancer every day and scientists are wasting their time by playing around with goats and making them spin webbing
(just a personal thought)

I agree with mikem here. Your statement is rather ignorant, as scientist specialize in many different fields, from medicinal doctors, to mycologists, to herpetologists and entomologists, to geneticists- 'scientist' is rather a broad term.

 

[jayefbe]

People are dying of cancer every day and scientists are wasting their time by playing around with goats and making them spin webbing
(just a personal thought)

Unfortunately this seem to be the general American (read ignorant) view of scientific research. Unless it has IMMEDIATE application for human health, science is a waste of time and money. Nevermind that all scientific inquiry eventually leads to discoveries with potential for critical human applications, whether or not we can currently conceive of what they are.

 

[Masurai]

Unfortunately this seem to be the general American (read ignorant) view of scientific research. Unless it has IMMEDIATE application for human health, science is a waste of time and money. Nevermind that all scientific inquiry eventually leads to discoveries with potential for critical human applications, whether or not we can currently conceive of what they are.

i couldn't of said it better myself.