History of Human's Use of Spider Silk

By squirtlex3

  • First documented man to attempt use of spider silk

    René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur "diligently collected the material from egg sacs and attempted to make stockings and gloves" (1),
  • Period: to

    Spider Silk

  • First invention made to harvest spider silk

    Daniel Rolt combined an engine and spool to create a spider-silk harvesting machine. It could wind18,000 feet of silk from only 24 spiders in just two hours.

  • Civil War surgeon Burt G. Wilder creates a stock holder to keep spiders in place

  • Spider silk used in World War II

    "Spider silk was used for crosshairs in optical devices, including microscopes, telescopes, guns, and bomb guiding systems" (1).

  • Professor genetically modifies goat to create spider silk.

    Professor Randy Lewis of the University of Wyoming put genes into a goat to make its milk produce the same proteins needed to create spider silk.