There is a new game in my house. During dinner, my kids have started playing, "What should dad write about next?" So far they have "encouraged" me to write a comic book review, articles about Harry Potter characters and some movie/tv reviews.

Last week my son came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea.

If they made a movie of this character it would still be better than Batman v Superman.

Timmy said, "Dad? Why don't you write about goats that can make spider webs?" (For some reason my kids both start every sentence directed at me with "Dad?" even though I'm sitting next to them and have been engaged in a conversation with them for five minutes already. It's like they think they need to get my attention... but they already have it! But I digress.)

Anyhow back to his question. "Well Timmy, I can't write about that because you just made that up. Maybe you should write about the crazy things you imagine when you're supposed to be eating your vegetables. But I can't just lie to people."

Although I was kidding about the tone (Timmy knew it and laughed) I was serious about the answer. I couldn't just write about the fantasy of some 11-year old comic book lover. I know I write some silly material, but even I have standards.

If I can get two more sources I'll write about this next.

But Timmy insisted it was real. He really seemed to believe it. In fact he was adamant. He wouldn't let it go. I started to get worried. Had he been over-served on super heroes? Had he finally lost his last grip on reality?

Luckily we happen to have this invention called "the internet" (perhaps you've heard of it) in our house. So I sat down to prove him wrong... and then search for a good child psychologist.

Of course,

Timmy was right!

Not only was he right, it was actually pretty old news. But I had no idea. Apparently he had seen it on some youtube channel that he was watching in-between videos of some British dude playing Minecraft (more on that in a later post).

Still holding out hope that this was some sort of hoax, I searched for multiple sources. I showed Timmy how to do this as well (they'll clearly let just anybody post on the internet... or blockchain). I found dozens of reputable sources including these:

http://www.businessinsider.com/genetic-engineering-goats-spiders-2016-4

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/techknow/articles/2014/5/1/spiders-and-transgenicgoatsleadtonewasilkroada.html

Transgenic Goats

Apparently that is what this creature is. "Transgenic" means "relating to or denoting an organism that contains genetic material into which DNA from an unrelated organism has been artificially introduced." (Google definition)

In this case, the unrelated organism is a golden orb-weaving spider.

This is Golden Silk Orb Weaver Spider. Two questions:
How do you milk it? Can you make gyros out of it?

Scientists create the silk spinning goats by genetically manipulating a cell (in this case adding spider DNA to a goat cell). Then they remove the nucleus and chromosomes of a typical goat egg and replace it with the modified cell. As the egg grows, it divides and multiplies as normal except now there is a new gene that tells the goat's body to produce the spider silk. This newly created gene will even be passed on to future generations. So there can be baby spider goats!

I immediately wondered: "Where the heck does the spider web shoot out of? " The goat's feet? It's nose? It's butt? How about the eyes (that would be super cool!)?

Nope.

The spider silk protein comes out in the goat's milk.

Yum!

After milking the goat...

"The milk has to be separated and refined several times, then washed, freeze-dried, and turned into a powder. The powder can be spun into a fiber, or transformed into a coating or adhesive. (The milk isn't ever kept for human consumption.)"(Business Insider)

Why? What is the point of having goats make spider silk?

It turns out that spider silk is actually pretty amazing and useful. Just about every source includes that spider silk is "tougher than kevlar" and has a "tensile strength greater than steel".

Even though the goat produced silk isn't as strong as real spider silk, it is still very useful.

Some of the proposed uses

• Body armor (Yes spider goat body armor... I think I had this when I played Dungeons and Dragons)
• Replacement for tendons, cartilage, and ligaments (the human immune system won't reject its sheer awesomeness)
• Football helmets (It is good at dissipating the shock from impacts)
• Car tires (could I roll up a wall if I have them? Probably not.)

Why not just have spider farms to create this amazing material?

Some animals are great on a farm. If you are wondering which ones, check out this awesome song called "Old McDonald" or whip out a Fisher Price See-and-Say.

When I was a kid, all of our toys had dangerous pull strings that could strangle us
... and we liked it!

All of these farm animals have something in common... they don't eat each other. But that is not true of spiders. So it would be kind of tough to efficiently gather enough spiders together to create a useful amount of silk.

Goats on the other hand do not eat each other. They can also produce significantly more silk than a tiny spider.

If you'd like more information, please check out these resources.

http://www.businessinsider.com/genetic-engineering-goats-spiders-2016-4
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/techknow/articles/2014/5/1/spiders-and-transgenicgoatsleadtonewasilkroada.html

If you would like to make your own genetic hybrid, please go here:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6