PROGRAMMING SILK: Functionalizing silk fibers

To give functionality to our fibers, we will be genetically fusing various proteins onto our spider silk. In effect, these fusion proteins will have dual function: that of the fused protein as well as that of natural spider silk. Areas like medicine, art, and the fashion industry could immensely benefit from incorporating these dynamic fusion proteins into their current practices.

To begin with, we will fuse Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) onto the silk. This will not only be a proof of concept for future experiments, but it will produce a tangible product. Converting this product into, say, a glowing silk t-shirt, is only a couple steps away.

Next we will attach streptavidin to our silk. Streptavidin is a well-characterized protein useful in molecular biology for its high affinity towards its binding partner, biotin. Both proteins and small molecules can be "biotinylated," allowing them to bind to streptavidin, or in our case, the streptavidin-silk fusion. A simple test we can do to verify this fusion protein is indeed being formed involves biotinylated GFP to act as a visual indicator. After this, we can even try biotinylating enzymes that can function in the body. Silk is ideal in drug delivery as it is sturdy yet biodegradable, and it can act as a scaffold for these enzymes to work in humans.

With these experiments, we aim to demonstrate that this approach of functionalizing silk fibers can be extended to many or all other proteins. The other two projects involve the critical steps of optimizing our spider silk and the spinning process, but it is with this functionalization of the silk fibers where we can truly see the potential of silk.