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
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.