...:: Days of Our Future ::...

Scientists know comparatively little about web glue, which coats the silk threads and is among the world's strongest biological glues. Past studies revealed that spiders make web glue from glycoproteins, or proteins bits of sugar attached.

But the ultra-strong glue that spiders use to trap their prey has finally given up some of its genetic secrets, raising the hope that similar substances could one day be synthesised to produce surgical adhesives.

The glue, which the spider secretes onto the central prey-capturing spiral threads of its web, is known to be based on a complex sugary polymer called a glycoprotein. But no one knew how this supersticky molecule did its job, or which genes coded for it.

Now Omer Choresh and colleagues at the University of Wyoming in Laramie have some clues. They took glue-secreting cells from the glands of golden orb-web spiders and extracted messenger RNA from them. They then used this to create a complementary DNA sequence to identify the genes potentially involved in glue creation.

They discovered that the sticky glycoprotein is formed from two separate proteins, each 110 amino acids long, that seem to be encoded by genes on opposite strands of the very same sequence of DNA (Biomacromolecules, vol 10, p 2852).

Choresh believes that by cloning these genes and amplifying them, it should be possible to create a whole new class of biocompatible glues.

A new generation of biobased adhesives and glues -- "green" glues that replace existing petroleum-based products for a range of uses.

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