f13.net

Science finally pulls off implanting spider genes into goats so the milk they produce can be turned into commercial quantity spider-webs. (http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/meet-spider-goat-the-dna-enhanced-web-flinging-nanny-that-may-one-day-knit-bones/story-e6frg1ac-1225867666656)

It looks like this kind of tech has been promoted for a while, but this is the first time it has been successfully delivered dividends. Of that's what it looks like after a 3 minute internet search where they were talking about this back in 2000 - 02.

Wyoming, delivering the throwaway jokes from of Better off Ted to your farm since 2010. The Spider-Chicken can't be far away.

It's a monkey.  With four asses.

For all the obvious jokes, this is actually a big deal.  Physical properties of drag-line spider silk make every other fiber look like rotten twine.  Being able to produce it in significant quantities is going to have a big effect on a lot of different fields.

--Dave

Play to crush!

This is huge and awesome.  I never thought they'd get it done, since it's been 10 years since I'd first heard about it.  Fantastic!

Somebody needs to 'shop in a quick baby goat/scary spider monstrosity, stat.

Yea, at the top of the list of things I wonder about is how many goats or spiders get hurt while we continue to pave the road labeled "humans are awesome."

Fuck goats & spiders. Glad to hear they're doing something useful out of those wretched freaks of the animal kingdom.

I have played enough MMO to factually state that spiders can indeed be farmed.

 :rimshot:

Goats are fucking creepy... more so than spiders, solely due to those fucked up rectangular irises.

I know Randy personally and this is some very interesting and important research.  While it sounds humorous on the surface, consider that spider silk holds a ton of promise as a very strong natural fiber.  It's mass production is a wonderful thing, particularly as a replacement for non-natural polymer fibers.

One of the industrial parks I audit had as a tenant one of the first companies to announce the goat/spider thing years ago.  Amusingly enough, they closed up the research business and no one could figure out what happened to the goats.... 

I obviously pictured a colony of goat-spider chimeras living in a desolate corner of the park, picking off lone people foolish enough to wander into their territory.  Obviously, the climax has to do with one of the other tenants that was working on experimental ammo for the DoD and included their stockpile of military grade firearms. 

Heh.

Anyway, you crazy science types are neglecting the most important factor in this:  spiders are fucking scary and probably willfully evil, and the last thing we need to do is to cross breed them with Satan's favorite animal.  I'm pretty sure this is how the bible predicted the apocalypse was going to begin.  

The crazy rednecks that actually believe that will change their tune when they find out how awesome spider-silk body armour is. Armageddon's only to be feared if it doesn't involve lots of cool military type stuff.

From what I understand, the issue is that the spider's spinnerets impart a key element to the silk, arranging and organizing the proteins as they come out. Last I heard, the whole thing was a bust because they were unable to replicate the spinning process and the silk they got out of the goats, while voluminous, was essentially useless because it had none of the tensile properties of "real" spider silk.

The article says "If it works..." implying that they still haven't solved this key problem yet.

See?  They're going to have to find a way to get spinnerets on the goats for this to work, and we all know where that'll lead.

If I see anything with 8 of those type of eyes, I'll start digging out my bunker post-haste.

(http://cdn.webecoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Animal_Hybrid_7.jpg)

(http://www.mdeie.gouv.qc.ca/uploads/tx_templavoila/5_7_genetics.gif)

(http://www.adventuresofgoat.com/images/SPIDERGOAT.JPG)

Okay, that last one was gold.  I'm hoping you get to take personal credit for it.

Nope, googled and found on:

http://www.adventuresofgoat.com/thumbs.htm