????一些發(fā)明者或許會因此進入一些陌生的領域。10年前，美國的研究人員曾經(jīng)嘗試創(chuàng)造“蜘蛛山羊”——它們的乳蛋白基因被加入的蜘蛛DNA改變了。由此產(chǎn)生的山羊乳汁含有蜘蛛絲蛋白質，羊奶擠出來后再提取蜘蛛絲蛋白。然而在這之后，這項任務就變得愈加困難了。

????劍橋大學（the University of Cambridge）生物材料力學教授米歇爾?奧恩表示，到目前為止，如何充分理解這些來自大自然的材料以模仿它們，難倒了不少科學家?！熬椭┲虢z而言，我們能夠復制負責制造蜘蛛絲的基因序列，把它轉移到別的地方，羊奶的情況也是如此，”她說，“但我們隨后必須模仿蜘蛛絲的噴絲頭，以便使這些蛋白質形成纖維。這一步相當棘手，是迄今為止的瓶頸之一?！?/p>

????資本規(guī)模達7.8億日元的Spiber公司現(xiàn)在每天能夠生產(chǎn)1公斤蜘蛛絲蛋白質，而且滿懷信心地與一家隸屬于豐田汽車（Toyota）的公司組建了一家合資企業(yè)，希望實現(xiàn)商業(yè)化生產(chǎn)。Spiber公司的紗線蛋白質不是用羊奶、而是用合成微生物制作而成。這家公司正在興建一家計劃于今年年末竣工的試驗廠，未來每月將生產(chǎn)100公斤已獲得專利、名叫Qmonos Fiber的蜘蛛絲蛋白質。至2015年，Spiber公司還將建造一個旨在進行商業(yè)化生產(chǎn)、每年將生產(chǎn)超過10噸蜘蛛絲的試點工廠。

????關山和秀聲稱：“蜘蛛絲將用來生產(chǎn)超輕、但堅固的汽車零部件和醫(yī)療器械。我們想制造發(fā)生撞車事故時不會傷害行人的轎車?！敝┲虢z的拉伸強度和相應的靈活性使它成了制造人工韌帶的理想材料。然而，奧恩教授希望我們不要誤以為蜘蛛絲比鋼鐵更堅固?！熬屠鞆姸榷?，蜘蛛絲或許可以與鋼鐵比較一番。拉伸強度是蜘蛛絲唯一的一個關鍵屬性，”她說，“蜘蛛絲的剛度，也就是它靈活變形的能力，要比鋼鐵弱很多倍。”

????蜘蛛絲潛在價值巨大，它的市場化無異于一場競賽，但參與這場競爭的公司并不止Spiber一家。德國公司Amsilk最近就宣布，它也將啟動一個在實驗室大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)蜘蛛絲的試點項目。與此同時，當初那家創(chuàng)造“蜘蛛山羊”的美國公司獲得了數(shù)百萬美元的投資后，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)不再從事蜘蛛網(wǎng)業(yè)務。當年的那些山羊（目前在猶他州一個大學農(nóng)場）現(xiàn)在依然在生產(chǎn)蜘蛛蛋白質。但就目前而言，用微生物合成蛋白質這項技術似乎占據(jù)了領先地位。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：任文科

????This can take inventors down some strange avenues. Ten years ago, U.S. researchers came up with the idea of creating "Spider goats" that had their milk genes altered with spider DNA. The resultant animal's milk contained the spider silk protein which was then extracted following milking. After that the task got harder.

????So far, what has held scientists back, says Michelle Oyen, professor of Mechanics of Biological Materials at the University of Cambridge, is understanding the natural materials well enough to mimic them. "In the case of spider silk, we can copy the gene sequences responsible for silk and transfer them elsewhere, as with the goat's milk case," she says. "But we then have to mimic the spider's silk spinneret in order to form the proteins into fibers, and that's tricky and has been one of the limitations to date."

????Spiber, capitalized at 780 million yen, is now capable of producing up to 1 kg of the silk protein a day and is confident enough to form a joint venture with a Toyota (TM) subsidiary to commercialize production. The yarn proteins at Spiber are made by synthetic microorganisms -- not goat's milk. Spiber is currently building a test plant that will produce 100 kg a month of patented spider thread protein, dubbed Qmonos Fiber, by the end of the year. A pilot plant will then be built for commercialization of the yarn by 2015 that will produce over 10 tons silk annually.

????"Applications will include super-light but strong car parts and medical applications," says Sekiyama. "We have an idea for cars that won't hurt pedestrians in crashes." Spider silk's tensile strength but corresponding flexibility could make it ideal for artificial ligaments. One claim, however, that Prof. Oyen wishes to disabuse us of, is that spider silk is stronger than steel. "At best, spider silk might compare to steel when it comes to tensile strength. Tensile strength is only one critical property," she says. "The stiffness of silk, which is its ability to deform elastically when force is applied, is many times less than that of steel."

????Nevertheless, Spiber is not alone in the race to market such a potentially valuable substance. German firm Amsilk recently announced it, too, will start a pilot project to scale up lab production of spider silk. Meanwhile, the American company that originally created the spider goats, after securing millions of dollars in backing, is no longer in the spider web business. The goats, now a Utah university farm, still produce spider proteins. But for the time being, the protein-synthesizing micocrobes seem to have the lead.