Utah State University

Lijin Xia

Randolph V Lewis

Justin A Jones

Xiaoli Zhang

Transgenic silkworms stably expressing synthetic spider silk genes or composite silkworm/spider silk genes are disclosed. The exogenous spider silk genes are stably intergrated into a defined site of the fibroin heavy chain intron or a fibroin light chain intron of silkworms. Synthetic spider silk proteins and composite spider silk-silkworm genes and proteins are provided. The expression of exogenous spider silk genes is driven by the endogenous fibroin heavy chain promoter, improving the genetic stability of transgenic silkworms. The composite silkworm/spider silk fibers exhibit exceptional mechanical performance, compared to normal silkworm silk fibers and other transgenic silkworm fibers.

Growing community of inventors

North Logan, UT, United States of America

Lijin Xia