New company learns from spider`s ability to spin

A new spin-out from Oxford University, Spinox, is aiming to devise novel ways to copy spiders` ability to spin silks. The new silks may be used for sutures or woven material for surgical implants, protective clothing and in sports equipment.

Spinox has been set up to fully develop a spinning process to create high performance fibres from natural or artificial proteins based on the principles used by spiders and insects to create natural silk fibres. This approach – biomimetic (mimicking biology) spinning – is based on patents and expertise from leading spider and silk experts Professor Fritz Vollrath and Dr David Knight at Oxford`s Department of Zoology, who together published an authoritative overview of natural silk spinning in the leading science journal Nature last year.

High performance silk fibres are amazingly tough and may eventually out-compete oil-based polymer fibres, and illustrate how future materials can be based on sustainable, non-polluting processes inspired by nature. Natural spinning processes are highly energy efficient and do not require high temperatures, strongly acidic solutions or toxic organic solvents. They show excellent properties over a wide range of temperatures and can be made magnetic or conducting. A wide range of feedstocks might be used for biomimetic spinning including artificially synthesised or genetically engineered protein analogues and natural `silk-like` proteins obtained from wheat or rice grains. The company will seek to exploit its understanding of the underlying processing of molecular self-assembly to address other materials markets.

Dr Knight said: “Spinox is an excellent example of how we can use nature`s ingenuity to help us develop new processes and materials with quite exceptional properties in an eco-friendly way.”
Tom Hockaday, a director of Isis Innovation Ltd, which supported the formation of Spinox, said: “This is fascinating technology with enormous commercial potential. We are pleased to have been involved in launching the business.”