Scientists to engineer a human with bulletproof skin
By mixing the genomes of spiders and humans, researchers say they can create genetically altered human skin that could withstand a bullet fired from a .22-caliber long rifle.
Photo: U.S. Library of Congress/public domain 
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Please DO NOT source your science articles from the Daily Mail. Their science reporting is notoriously bad. I am a British molecular biologist, and I don't think I have ever seen a well reported science story in that newspaper.
This whole bullet-proof skin thing is an art project. Jalila Essaidi is an artist, not a scientific researcher (google her). What she has demonstrated is that human cells grown on a bullet proof matrix are bullet-proof. Hardly surprising. If I smeared peanut.... More
.22LR is a puny caliber, it is used to kill rabbits at most... it have about 160J of energy
To really protect a human, you would need at least protection against 9mm, that is a pistol caliber with about 500J, an assault rifle have about 2kJ, a battle rifle about 4kJ.
I think everyone is missing the actual application of this biological enhancement. This bullet-proof skin will be mass produced and fitte nicely over a large cybernetic skeleton, thus creating a future where these robotic beings, let's just call them Terminators for now, will make sure that their human counterparts cannot dissuade them from their ultimate goal of total domination. Well, first they will cheat on their wives with the maid, have a mystery son out of wedlock, and then do that.... More
My Mother-in-law has bulletproof skin.
This is genetics research just to see what's possible... I don't think we're anywhere close to violating any kind of code and pumping out mutant humans. The fruits of this labor will probably result in innovations that we will approve of. It's just research at this point, to expand our knowledge of how life works.
Our mother NATURE and this so called research are poles apart
ATROCIOUS !!! Such an outrageous article on MNN ????
this will not work. expression of the protein would interfere with the normal function of the skin and other organs and lead to serious illness or death. chances are very low the genetically modified embryo would even survive gestation. even if it didn't lead to death directly, it wouldn't provide protection against a bullet because the proteins expressed in adjacent cells would never be linked. the skin would therefore give way just as easily as if the protein were not present. this article is.... More
Is this a joke? Are they just going to start cranking out a bunch of genetically altered infants and see what they get? Genetic recombinations are nothing new with animals, but combining human and animal genes is an major human rights violation, for starters. Not only would they be using newborns as lab rats, but a whole other issue altogether is where the line is drawn for a being to have human rights. (Arguably, if scientists are allowed to grow babies for lab experiments, human rights aren't.... More
Um if it would stop a bullet, I would think it would stop a bee sting so the anaphylactic shock theory itsoutta here...just saying.
You guys sound so smart!
That's a brave dude in that top photo. Wonder if those guys were a couple of door-to-door bullet proof vest salesmen.
To test this theory, I just went in my backyard and shot a large hairy garden spider with my .22 cal Ruger pistol...his web did not stop the bullet and he was totally obliterated...on to the next discovery!!
Do we get a color choice? I want to be blue like Mystique of the X-men, not blue like a Smurf.
Ok, Let's see about this...
How do they expect to be able to do general surgery then if your *** is bulletproof??
What happens if you have a situation where you have major and quick internal swelling? You'd die in short order because your skin couldn't expand to compensate for the additional fluids...
On the other hand, fat people would probably die off faster because their skin wouldn't stretch to accommodate their obese over eating habit, and God forbid you have an.... More
Sounds cool, but if they can weave spider silk into a material that is 10 times stronger than steel (I'd assume it would also be relatively lightweight), why not just make body suits of the stuff? You could give it to police and military so they would be protected from head to toe, instead of just their chest area. In fact, use it to weave tent structures to help prevent bomb shrapnel from killing soldiers.
There would be a tremendous opportunity to put this into the.... More
They can not do this, they can only test silk on a force/lb basis and then extrapolate a value that would be valid for xxx amt of silk, as read in the article.
I.e. they know that one strand of silk can withstand xx pounds of force, therefor it is correct to extrapolate that 10 strands of silk can withstand 10 times xx pounds and 100 strands can withstand 100 times xx pounds...etc, with the relationship not necessarily having to be linear as I have defined it...
I wonder how this would affect elasticity of skin. What would be the point if the person couldn't move well. Our skin evolved the way it did for a reason.
While This wouldn't offer much protection against an a direct hit from an assault weapon, it would be of great use protecting against shrapnel and ricochets...
Sooooo, what happens when someone with bullet proof skin has to have an emergency appendectomy?
GOOD QUESTION! Or if they get a bee sting and swell up like a balloon and their skin can't stretch to accomodate the histamine fluids releases!@???
Kinda stupid folks...
If it works anything like a bulletproof vest, they'll be fine. A knife can go through a vest if gentle, steady pressure is applied, but will stop the bullet.
So... in the very rare chance that someone fires a small caliber weapon at long range at our future humans, they will be protected from penetration (though not blunt force trauma, I'd imagine).
In the much more likely case that their finger gets caught in a piece of machinery, instead of tearing free they will be pulled in by their unbreakable skin.
Soooo... Having a kid will be like buying a car where you get to pick options based on your budget? "Ouch. The bullet proof skin is a bit pricey... how much for the scotch guard?"
This must be for engineering soldiers but it is pointless when there are larger bullets. Bullets that can blast through brick and steel. To have such skin may be good in the inner city but who wants the weight of that skin?
Rarely would you get hit point blank with bullet traveling normal to the impending surface, any deviation from normal would greatly reduce the impact by the bullet and as the comment above stated would work great to deflect bullets that would be glancing (even deadly glancing). Even turning your body as the shot was fired would extremely reduce the angle at which the bullet hit you unless it was shot at your center mass.
hate to tell you...no one shots a 22 long in the city. 9mm. is the gun. worst of all.....you're getting paid for this so called research.
.40 cal is the gun of the city there dobbs 9mm get you nowhere.
Point missed, chris dobbs. The skin would still be stronger (if they're right) than what we have now.
.22 long rifle has much higher velocity than a 9mm pistol. Learn to ballistics.
Not a .22 long rifle round. There is very little energy in a .22 LR round, despite it's name making it sound like it is a big, powerful rifle round. It isn't. People use them to kill squirrels and rabbits at close range. Nothing much bigger. They aren't even loud. YOu can shoot one inside a room without hearing protection and it won't even hurt. Think of it as a powerful BB gun and you're getting pretty close...
I have killed 900lbs cows with the 22lr at point blank range and dear at up to 200 yards so I know they are very good rounds.
.22lr goes subsonic at around 150 yards. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is impossible to kill a deer at 200 yards with a .22lr, but .22lr is definitely the wrong tool for the job in that scenario.
Wrong. The .22LR is a favorite choice by the professional assassin. Used up close and personal (usually to the back of the head just above the neck), when silenced is is inaudible, one shot will almost always do the job, the pistol is small, light and easily concealable. Recoil is negligible, assisting in an accurate shot placement. The round may also be a hollow-point, which upon expanding, guarantees massive intra-cranial damage.
....Wow, someone has been watching to many movies and reading too many books. Try leaving your moms basement sometime.
So,Mr Expert, do all the professional assassins you know kill at long range? Didn't think so.
This article is about 22LR rounds at long range. There is almost no weight and the speed drops off fast. There just is not a lot of energy in this case, therefor easily stopped.
Since you almost never hear about somebody being shot by a 22 at long range, it's not really much of an issue.
9mm, .45, .357 are all much more common. Being shot at close range is much more common. These are.... More
I have so many questions about this! Like who would go for skin replacement or would it just be worn on top? Wouldn't the bullet impact still cause fatal damage in some cases? (sort of how a baseball hitting a batter can kill)
Tarrant, the techniques mentioned here were for testing. Obviously you would engineer the new skin structure into an embryo, not add it to an existing person.
"... mix the genomes of spiders and humans... ' Be careful or the kid will end up with 8 legs.
Reminds me too much of "Born of Man and Woman", an old SF short story by Matheson. Ugh...
