Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has their focus on developing high performance polymers and technical fibers. The company is utilizing their proprietary genetic engineering technology to develop and produce polymers and protein-based materials, including spider silk, which may have numerous commercial and consumer applications.
The company possesses coded gene sequences that relate to spider silk production and is currently working on injecting this material into silkworm eggs. The team at the University of Notre Dame, led by Dr. Fraser, has recently been strengthened to further refine the microinjection process as well as increase the number of microinjections preformed.
In most recent news, the company excitedly announced that the scientific team has achieved the activation of fluorescent marker gene sequences that were incorporated into spider silk DNA packets by the researchers. The team has successfully inserted the DNA packets into silkworms, which are now visibly emitting florescence. This achievement is a huge step forward for Kraig Labs. The fact that these proteins are markers establishes that the DNA packets have been successfully transferred.
Kraig Biocraft has a particular focus within the biotech industry where FDA approval of its resulting technologies and products is not required. This means that once the company has produced the desired transgenic silkworm, it can immediately move into production, licensing agreements or a direct sale of the technology or of the entire company.
After achieving its goal of creating a line of silkworms capable of producing spider silk fibers in commercial quantities, the company will most likely decide one of two things. One choice would be selling the entire company or licensing the technology to one of the larger technical textile market participants. An alternative would be to pursue bulk sales of fibers produced by the transgenic silkworms. Because this would require significant additional financing and a greater amount of time to attain profits, an outright acquisition or a licensing agreement is more likely.
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