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Kraig Biocraft completes first cycle of silk moth mating
20 Nov '19
2 min read
Pic: Shutterstock
Kraig Biocraft has announced that Prodigy Textiles, the company’s Vietnamese subsidiary, has completed the first cycle of silk moth mating and egg production scale-up, at the Quang Nam factory. Kraig Biocraft, a reporting biotechnology company headquartered in the US, is the leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fibre technologies.
The Prodigy Textiles operations team finished removing the cocoons from mounting frames on November 6, 2019, and silk moths began emerging by November 9, 2019. The breeding of the emerged moths is complete, with the specialised silkworm eggs now in incubation and expected to emerge shortly. Each female silk moth lays upwards of 200-500 eggs and, as previously announced, all of the emerged silk moths were dedicated to breeding stock expansion, to rapidly scale up the company’s silk production capacity, according to Kraig Biocraft.
Over the coming weeks, the company expects to hatch and rear this second round of silkworms, then harvest the resulting cocoons for production of the first recombinant spider silk threads manufactured in Vietnam. The company will contract with a nearby reeling facility to convert the cocoons into finished silk yarn, which has already been committed to a textile manufacture for further fabric and product development.
Prodigy Textiles plans to continue to expand its throughput, over the next several quarters, as it builds up its capacity, expands operations, and prepares to ship materials to its collaborators and potential customers.
“The launch of each new production phase marks a significant Prodigy milestone, so this is an especially exciting time for Kraig Labs, which, after the years and efforts needed to overcome numerous challenges and regulatory hurdles, is successfully transitioning our technology from the lab to the factory. It is a pleasure to share each meaningful step forward and, over the next few quarters, we anticipate some thrilling changes for our business and our shareholders, as we begin bringing our recombinant spider silk technologies and capabilities to the markets,” COO of Kraig Biocraft, Jon Rice said.
The Prodigy Textiles operations team finished removing the cocoons from mounting frames on November 6, 2019, and silk moths began emerging by November 9, 2019. The breeding of the emerged moths is complete, with the specialised silkworm eggs now in incubation and expected to emerge shortly. Each female silk moth lays upwards of 200-500 eggs and, as previously announced, all of the emerged silk moths were dedicated to breeding stock expansion, to rapidly scale up the company’s silk production capacity, according to Kraig Biocraft.
Over the coming weeks, the company expects to hatch and rear this second round of silkworms, then harvest the resulting cocoons for production of the first recombinant spider silk threads manufactured in Vietnam. The company will contract with a nearby reeling facility to convert the cocoons into finished silk yarn, which has already been committed to a textile manufacture for further fabric and product development.
Prodigy Textiles plans to continue to expand its throughput, over the next several quarters, as it builds up its capacity, expands operations, and prepares to ship materials to its collaborators and potential customers.
“The launch of each new production phase marks a significant Prodigy milestone, so this is an especially exciting time for Kraig Labs, which, after the years and efforts needed to overcome numerous challenges and regulatory hurdles, is successfully transitioning our technology from the lab to the factory. It is a pleasure to share each meaningful step forward and, over the next few quarters, we anticipate some thrilling changes for our business and our shareholders, as we begin bringing our recombinant spider silk technologies and capabilities to the markets,” COO of Kraig Biocraft, Jon Rice said.
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