Spider Goats 2.0: Creating Better Transgenic Goats

Class

Article

College

College of Engineering

Faculty Mentor

Randy Lewis

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Abstract

Synthetic spider silk has an array of potential uses, ranging from high-end athletic gear to replacement ligaments. The major limiting factor in synthetic spider silk research is the quantity of available large (>100 kDa) silk proteins. Currently, expression in transgenic goats’ milk is the best method available for large-scale production of silk proteins, but the silk protein purification process is long, expensive, and inefficient. In order to increase the yield and purification efficiency of synthetic spider silk proteins in goat milk, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is being employed in tandem with homology directed repair to develop new "spider goats" that will produce proteins designed for improved purifications. The goat alpha-s2-casein gene, which codes for a native milk protein, is being targeted for gene replacement with spider silk coding genes. A similar experiment has been done in the hamster genome to determine whether replacing a milk protein gene with a silk gene is feasible. In both organisms the silk coding regions contain a poly-histidine tag to allow for faster, more efficient purification. The hamster experiments have been repeatedly successful at the cellular level; we anticipate that this success will carry over to the goats. These new “spider goats” will allow more research to be done regarding spider silk applications, improving the commercialization potential of synthetic spider silk.

Location

The South Atrium

Start Date

4-12-2018 12:00 PM

End Date

4-12-2018 1:15 PM

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Apr 12th, 12:00 PM Apr 12th, 1:15 PM

Spider Goats 2.0: Creating Better Transgenic Goats

The South Atrium

Synthetic spider silk has an array of potential uses, ranging from high-end athletic gear to replacement ligaments. The major limiting factor in synthetic spider silk research is the quantity of available large (>100 kDa) silk proteins. Currently, expression in transgenic goats’ milk is the best method available for large-scale production of silk proteins, but the silk protein purification process is long, expensive, and inefficient. In order to increase the yield and purification efficiency of synthetic spider silk proteins in goat milk, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is being employed in tandem with homology directed repair to develop new "spider goats" that will produce proteins designed for improved purifications. The goat alpha-s2-casein gene, which codes for a native milk protein, is being targeted for gene replacement with spider silk coding genes. A similar experiment has been done in the hamster genome to determine whether replacing a milk protein gene with a silk gene is feasible. In both organisms the silk coding regions contain a poly-histidine tag to allow for faster, more efficient purification. The hamster experiments have been repeatedly successful at the cellular level; we anticipate that this success will carry over to the goats. These new “spider goats” will allow more research to be done regarding spider silk applications, improving the commercialization potential of synthetic spider silk.