SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
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.
Wed, Aug 17 2011 at 1:56 AM
Related Topics:
Photo: U.S. Library of Congress/public domain
Peter Parker originally got his superhuman powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. Now, as if inspired by a comic book, scientists working with the Forensic Genomics Consortium in the Netherlands want to mix the genomes of spiders and humans to create — though not quite a real-life spiderman — a superhuman with silk-like, bulletproof skin, according to the Daily Mail.
It sounds unbelievable, but the research is already well underway. The project is being called "2.6g 329m/s" after the weight and the velocity of a .22-caliber long rifle bullet from which the genetically modified human skin could presumably withstand a blast.
So, why spiders? The key to the technology is in the protein that makes spider silk. It turns out that spider silk, when spun out and weaved properly, can be made into a material that is not just bulletproof, but 10 times stronger than steel. The idea is to replace our keratin, the protein that makes up human skin, with a modified version of the protein in spider silk.
"Imagine replacing keratin, the protein responsible for the toughness of the human skin, with this spider silk protein," said Jalila Essaidi, one of the Dutch researchers behind the project. "This is possible by adding the silk-producing genes of a spider to the genome of a human: creating a bulletproof human. Science fiction? Maybe, but we can get a feeling of what this transhumanistic idea would be like by letting a bulletproof matrix of spider silk merge with an in vitro human skin."
The technology only gets weirder. To test it, researchers genetically engineered a goat to produce milk that is packed with the spider silk protein. The material was then milked out of the goat and weaved together, creating a bulletproof substance. Researchers then grew a layer of real skin around a sample of the bulletproof substance produced by the goat, so that bullets could be fired into it.
The following video, posted by the researchers on YouTube, depicts these experiments (Note: the video is all in Dutch):
Also on MNN: 20 impressive high school science fair projects
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- 13 natural remedies for the ant invasion
- The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket
- Stone Age people may have battled against a zombie apocalypse
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
- 20 ways to reuse coffee grounds, tea leaves
- 7 real-life human cyborgs
- 'Crazy ants' invade southeastern U.S.
- 12 best new features of the Samsung Galaxy S4
From our sponsor
NEWSLETTER
Advertisement
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.
You've been watching WAY too much Matrix.
You've been watching WAY too much Matrix.
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.
you're BOTH wrong... .50 dessert Eagle is the ONLY way to go...
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.
this is intense... imagine all the possibilities!
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.
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.
Hmm...I was thinking something like a skin graft...
"... 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...
Just read that story... and yes very creepy (easy to find a pdf of it with a web search).
Pages