Thomas Phippen, DCNF
The military is raising investment on research into genetically engineered spider silk for durable, flexible material about half the strength of Kevlar that could protect soldiers’ privates.
The Army awarded $900,000 to Kraig Biocraft Laboratories to develop “high-performance fibers for protective apparel applications” Wednesday, adding on to the original $100,000 contract awarded last summer.
After the Army received samples of the specialized strain of super-strong fiber that Kraig Biocraft called “Dragon Silk,” the service wanted more.
The company will “match the performance of our spider silk to their specific use cases and protective applications,” Jon Rice, COO of Kraig, said in a press release.
One of the top potential uses is “extremity protection… for the groin area,” James Zheng, lead scientist for the Army’s Soldier Program Executive Office told DefenseOne. “We want to evaluate, to test, to see if this is a better material to use,” Zheng said.
Kraig Biocraft injects spider DNA into silk worms to create a material far stronger than silk, and far more flexible than Kevlar. The company described the process for creating the silk in a 2011 research paper.
Follow Thomas Phippen on Twitter
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- The Florida candidate laser-focused on eradicating horrific animal crimes - March 22, 2024
- Sabo: ‘Rush was our GOAT, there was no equal and he made it look easy’ - February 18, 2024
- Dana Bash appears to want to crawl out of her own skin when Ramaswamy ‘goes there’ on J6 - December 7, 2023
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
