Recombinant dragline silk,
tested under load.
Spider Strength Protection is engineered from MaSp1/MaSp2 spidroin proteins — the same molecules the golden orb-weaver has been refining for four hundred million years. We brewed them in a vat, drew them into film, and put them under a chef's blade. What follows is the data.
Tensile strength
Film thickness
Toughness
Batch sample size
Knife penetration
Natural R&D
The Protein
/ MaSp1 + MaSp2 spidroin architectureA single spider spins up to five distinct silks. We isolated the two proteins behind dragline silk — MaSp1 and MaSp2 — and cultured them in engineered yeast at industrial scale. Crystalline β-sheet domains do the load-bearing; amorphous glycine regions provide the give.
- EXPRESSION
- P. pastoris · 32°C
- MW
- ~285 kDa
- β-SHEET
- ~30% crystalline
- FIBER Ø
- 1–5 μm
- YIELD
- 12.4 g/L
The Numbers
/ Stress · strain · toughnessDragline silk's combination of high tensile strength and extensibility gives it a toughness — the energy absorbed before failure — greater than virtually every man-made fiber, including the one in your bulletproof vest.
Below: stress–strain curves run on a Zwick Z010 tensile rig at 25°C, 50% RH. Each material n=12; mean curve plotted.
The Proof
/ Single-layer blade penetration testNo edits. No effects. A single layer of Spider Strength silk, stretched across a Wüsthof 8″ chef's blade. The silk holds.
| TRIAL | FORCE | DUR. | PEN. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 12.0 N | 60 s | 0.00 mm |
| 02 | 12.0 N | 60 s | 0.00 mm |
| 03 | 14.5 N | 60 s | 0.00 mm |
| 04 | 12.0 N | 120 s | 0.00 mm |
| 05 | 18.0 N | 60 s | 0.00 mm |
The Process
/ Vat → fiber → film → batch QACULTURE
32°C · pH 6.8
SPIN
8 m/s · 200 μm
FILM
0.04 mm · 70%RH
TEST
ISO 4074 · n=200
The Memo
/ Internal correspondence, founding team"Latex was invented in 1855.
We thought it was time for something new."
Founded by two biomaterials scientists and one very persistent arachnologist. Began as a thesis on recombinant silk fibers, ended up rewriting what intimacy should feel like. Made in small batches. Tested obsessively. Spun without compromise.
The Material
/ Specification card · for the recordStronger than steel. Thinner than latex.
The first prophylactic woven from bioengineered Nephila dragline silk — five times the tensile strength of steel, at a fraction of the thickness.
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