23/08/2011

Project "2.6g 329 m/s": Bulletproof Skin from Spider Silk

An artist has used spider silk to create a skin that can stop bullets, but with her experiment, she is asking how far will people go to protect themselves. According to a report from Discovery News , Dutch artist Jalila Essadi and the Forensic Genomics Consortium Netherlands have created a bulletproof skin using human skin cells and spider silk. Essadi's creation hinges on the fact that spider silk thread is "relatively much stronger than steel," according to a news release posted on the artist's blog. Apparently, the bullet-proof skin is the end result of a process involving implanting woven spider silk between the layers of the dermis and epidermis, then letting "a bullet do its work" to test the theory.


The skin was able to stop a bullet when fired at a reduced speed, according to reports. However, the bullet won when fired at full speed, and that's just fine with Essadi. The artist wasn't exactly trying to make a scientific discovery, anyway. "By implementing this bulletproof matrix of spider silk produced by transgenic goats in human skin I want to explore the social, political, ethical and cultural issues surrounding safety in a world with access to new biotechnologies," Essadi said in a news release about the work.

"Issues which arise on the basis of ancient human desire for invulnerability. It is legend that Achilles, the central character of Homer's Iliad was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. Will we in the near future due to biotechnology no longer need to descend from a godly bloodline in order to have traits like invulnerability?"

The project, dubbed "2.6g 329 m/s," is currently on display at an exhibition called Designers & Artists 4 Genomics held at the Naturalis biodiversity museum in Leidan, Netherlands. Watch Essadi talk about her project

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/news/offbeat/artist-creates-bulletproof-skin-from-spider-silk-dpgoh-20110822-fc_14664073

ΣΧΟΛΙΟ ΙΣΤΟΛΟΓΙΟΥ: ΓΙΑ ΟΣΟΥΣ ΔΕΝ ΤΑ ΠΑΝΕ ΚΑΛΑ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΑΓΓΛΙΚΗ. ΔΗΜΙΟΥΡΓΗΣΑΝ ΤΕΧΝΗΤΟ ΔΕΡΜΑ ΠΟΥ ΦΕΡΕΤΑΙ ΩΣ ΙΚΑΝΟ ΝΑ ΣΤΑΜΑΤΗΣΕΙ ΣΦΑΙΡΑ ΑΠΟ ΠΙΣΤΟΛΙ 0,22ΧΙΛ. ΜΕ ΒΟΛΗ ΧΑΜΗΛΗΣ ΤΑΧΥΤΗΤΑΣ, ΕΞ'ΟΥ ΚΑΙ Η ΟΝΟΜΑΣΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΣΧΕΔΙΟΥ. ΤΟ ΕΚΑΝΑΝ ΧΡΗΣΙΜΟΠΟΙΩΝΤΑΣ "ΓΑΛΑ" ΑΠΟ ΓΕΝΝΕΤΙΚΑ ΜΕΤΑΛΑΓΜΕΝΕΣ ΚΑΤΣΙΚΕΣ ΩΣΤΕ ΤΟ ..."ΓΑΛΑ" ΤΟΥΣ ΝΑ ΕΧΕΙ ΤΙΣ ΙΔΙΟΤΗΤΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΙΣΤΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΑΡΑΧΝΗΣ.

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