SBIR Phase II: Commercial Scale Production of Synthetic Spider Silk Fibers

这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将继续第一阶段开始的蜘蛛丝纤维的开发和商业化。蜘蛛丝是自然界中一种独特的材料，目前还无法在商业规模上获得。蜘蛛丝和其他蛋白质聚合物广泛应用于从特种纺织品到医疗器械和先进复合材料的各个领域。生产人造蜘蛛丝纤维的关键限制是缺乏可获得的散装丝绸材料，以及如何将聚合物适当加工成具有本地质量的产品的知识。该项目将继续先前的工作，利用商业上可行的成本结构，通过微生物生产蜘蛛丝蛋白来提供可扩展数量的材料。此外，该项目还将研究将蚕丝聚合物加工成性能超过天然蜘蛛丝的纤维的关键参数。用重组蛋白生产原丝纤维的能力将使蜘蛛丝纤维产品商业化的第一步成为可能。该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力对美国采用创造就业的生物经济非常重要。生产蛋白质聚合物的能力几十年来一直困扰着生物研究人员。许多重要的结构蛋白和诱人的商业用途材料实际上仍然无法生产。合成生物学、微细加工和材料加工等尖端技术的出现，使得蛋白质聚合物的生产和加工成为一个现实的目标。基于蛋白质的聚合物的潜在应用包括一系列更“绿色”和可持续的复杂材料。蜘蛛丝聚合物由于其机械性能，可能被用于制造下一代防弹纤维，用于军事、执法和私人用户的装甲生产。此外，独立于石油来源生产先进聚合物的能力是新兴生物经济的一个关键目标。最后，许多蛋白质聚合物(包括丝素)具有生物相容性和可生物降解性，因此可以形成新型医疗材料的基础，用于通过植入物或设备取代或重新生长结缔组织。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will continue the development and commercialization of spider silk fibers commenced in the Phase I effort. Spider silk is a unique material in nature that is currently inaccessible on a commercial scale. Spider silk and other protein polymers are broadly useful in fields ranging from specialty textiles, to medical devices and advanced composites. The critical limitation in producing artificial spider silk fibers has been the lack of availability of bulk silk material and the knowledge of how to appropriately process the polymer into a product of native quality. This project will continue prior work to deliver scalable quantities of material through microbial production of spider silk protein using a commercially viable cost structure. In addition, this project will examine the key parameters for processing silk polymer into fibers whose properties surpass those of native spider silk. The ability to produce prototype silk fibers from recombinant protein will enable the initial steps towards commercializing spider silk fiber-based products. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is important to the adoption of a job-creating bio-based economy in the United States. The ability to produce protein polymers has bedeviled biological researchers for decades. Many important structural proteins and enticing commercially-useful materials have remained effectively impossible to produce. The advent of cutting-edge techniques in synthetic biology, microfabrication, and materials processing now make the production of protein polymers and the processing of them into beneficial technologies a realistic goal. Potential applications of protein-based polymers include a full range of sophisticated materials that are furthermore "green" and sustainable. Spider silk polymers, due to their mechanical properties, can potentially be used to create the next generation of ballistic fibers in the production of armor for military, law enforcement, and private users. In addition, the ability to produce advanced polymers independent of petroleum sources is a key goal of the emerging bio-based economy. Lastly, many protein polymers (including silk) are biocompatible and biodegradable and thus can form the basis for new classes of medical materials used to replace or re-grow connective tissues with implants or devices.