Biologists Engineer Spiders to Spin Glowing Red Silk
Researchers have, for the first time ever, used CRISPR gene editing on spiders. While the genetically-modified critters lack the ability to give you spidey senses, they do spin glowing silk.
In a study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, researchers at the University of Bayreuth created the world's first CRISPR-modified spiders, some of which produced red fluorescent silk, and some of which had no eyes.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful gene editing system that has revolutionized our ability to treat disease and probe the human genome. CRISPR has been used to edit the genomes of animals, plants, and microbes, and now, a species of common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum).
Genetically modifying arachnids posed a unique set of challenges. A lot of spiders like to eat each other, so breeding them can be, well, tough. They also have very complex genomes—which were duplicated early in spider evolution.
After some early failed attempts, the researchers settled on injecting the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing machinery, along with a gene for red fluorescent protein, into unfertilized spider eggs. The goal was to insert, or 'knock in' the red fluorescent protein gene into the part of the spider genome that produces a protein found in silk.
That was easier said than done. The process required the researchers to anesthetize female spiders and drive a tiny needle into their abdomens. After recovery, they bred the female spiders with the males of the same species.
The next generation of spiders, they found, spun colorful, fluorescent red silk, showing that the researchers had successfully edited the spider genome.
'We have demonstrated, for the first time worldwide, that CRISPR-Cas9 can be used to incorporate a desired sequence into spider silk proteins, thereby enabling the functionalisation of these silk fibres,' Thomas Scheibel, senior author on the study and a biochemist at the University of Bayreuth, said in a statement.
The researchers also experimented with CRISPR-KO, a gene editing tool that knocks out, or inactivates, a specific gene. They used this to knock out a gene called 'so,' which was thought to be important for eye development.
The gene was, indeed, important. The resulting CRISPR-KO-modified offspring were born sans eyes (or with fewer eyes than normal). What's creepier, eight eyes or no eyes?
Spider silk is stronger than steel, featherlight, and has tear resistance, making it a particularly useful material for things like clothes and surgical sutures. The researchers said that this experiment could open the door to create silk with new properties.
'The ability to apply CRISPR gene-editing to spider silk is very promising for materials science research – for example, it could be used to further increase the already high tensile strength of spider silk,' Scheibel said.
So, maybe some glowing red clothes are in our future.
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