Bullet-Proof Skin??

UTAH RESEARCHER AND ARTIST MAKE BULLETPROOF SKIN

A bio-art project to create bulletproof skin has given a Utah State researcher even more hope his genetically engineered spider silk can be used to help surgeons heal large wounds and create artificial tendons and ligaments.

Researcher Randy Lewis and his collaborators gained worldwide attention recently when they found a commercially viable way to manufacture silk fibers using goats and silkworms that had spider genes inserted into their makeup.

Spider silk is one of the strongest fibers known and five times stronger than steel.  Lewis’ fibers are not that strong but much stronger than silk spun by ordinary worms.

With Lewis’ help, Dutch artist Jalila Essaidi conducted an experiment weaving a lattice of human skin cells and silk that was capable of stopping bullets fired at reduced speeds.

“Randy and I were moved by the same drive I think, curiosity about the outcome of the project,” Essaidi said in an email interview.  “Both the artist and scientist are inherently curious beings.”

Essaidi initially intended to fire .22 caliber bullets at the “skin” on a special gelatin block used at the Netherlands Forensic Institute.

Using a high-speed camera, she showed a bullet fired at a reduced speed piercing the skin woven with an ordinary worm’s silk.  But when tested with Lewis’ genetically engineered worm’s silk grafted between the epidermis and dermis, the skin didn’t break.  Neither was able to repel a bullet fired at normal speed from a .22 caliber rifle.

“We were more than a little surprised that the final skin kept the bullet from going in there,” Lewis said of the tests at reduced speed.  “It still ended up 2 inches into the torso, so it would not have saved your life.  But without a doubt the most exciting part for us is the fact that they were able to recreate the skin on top of our fibers.  It’s something we haven’t done.  Nobody has worked in that area.”

Lewis downplayed the potential bulletproof applications of his research.

“I certainly would not discount that, but I don’t see that as a tremendous application at the moment,” he said.

He said bulletproof vests already exist.  But being able to grow cells and use the material to replace large amounts of human skin could be significant for surgeons trying to cover large wounds, or treat people with severe burns.

He said the material’s strength and elasticity would enable doctors to cover large areas without worrying about it ripping out—a big advantage over small skin grafts.

Lewis couldn’t give a time frame for such a use because it would require FDA approval.  But he hoped to do some animal testing within two years, and noted spider silk already has proven very compatible with the human body.