Kraig Biocraft Laboratories (KBLB)

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Michael McCarthy

Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (KBLB), a biotechnology company, has their focus on developing high performance polymers and technical fibers. The company is utilizing their proprietary genetic engineering technology to develop and produce polymers and protein-based materials, including Spider silk, which may have numerous commercial and consumer applications.

What’s So Exciting About Spider Silk?

Spider Silk is one of the strongest fibers found in nature.^{[citation needed]} Along with its incredible strength, the fiber is also extremely elastic and resilient, and has several properties that are unmatched by even the most exotic of man-made fibers. One of the most important properties of spider silk, however, is its extreme resistance to breaking under strain. Relative to this property, spider silk outperforms virtually all known natural and synthetic fibers.

Because spider silk also has the unparalleled capacity to absorb energy and dissipate it in a very controlled manner, this fiber is especially attractive for applications where energy absorption is a key design factor.^{[citation needed]} These applications include bulletproof vests, artificial ligaments, parachute cords, suspension cables and many others.^{[citation needed]}

Pound for pound, spider silk is much stronger than steel.^{[citation needed]} It is known to be at least five times stronger than steel of the same diameter. Spider silk also has some other unique and interesting characteristics. For example, a single strand of spider silk is significantly finer than a human hair as well as substantially lighter. It has been said that spider silk is so thin and light weight that a single strand long enough to circle the entire Earth would weigh less than 2 pounds.

There is little dispute whether or not spider silk has superiority over many manmade and natural fibers for certain applications. However, the issue is how to produce spider silk in commercial quantities at a reasonable cost. With Kraig Biocraft’s leading team of scientific experts and breakthroughs already taking place in the lab, the world is closer than ever to experiencing the many benefits offered by this exciting technology.

The Target Market for Spider Silk

The market Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has targeted is generally referred to as the “technical textiles” market. This market encompasses a wide range of products that are used for a large number of different types of applications. The products sold into the technical textiles market are either finished products in themselves or are used as components to produce other products.

The specific sector of the technical textiles market targeted by the company is known as the high-performance fibers market and can be broken down into two main areas: Aramid fibers, the best known of these fibers being DuPont’s Kevlar which produces more than $5 billion in annual sales^{[citation needed]}; and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, such as Spectra, which is produced by Honeywell International, Inc.^{[citation needed]}

The worldwide market for these fibers and other high performance technical fibers is massive. It is estimated that this market generates $90 billion per year, with the United States accounting for more than half of the market^{[citation needed]}. The industry has experienced significant growth over the past 10 years and is expected to continue growing at a similarly robust rate over the coming years.