Stronger than Steel?

Flexible, lightweight, strong, biocompatible, and water-resistant. A material with all of these properties can mean life-changing medical devices, protective equipment, and even building materials. But who came up with this super product? Spiders!

Can you imagine trying to farm spiders that eat each other and yield relatively small quantities of silk? This is where spider silk expert, Justin Jones, comes in. Join us for a lecture and discussion with this USU researcher and professor to learn about how his lab creates synthetic spider silk through the use of transgenic goats, bacteria, alfalfa, and even silkworms!

Dr. Justin A. Jones is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Utah State University. Dr. Jones received his Ph.D. degree in biology from Utah State University in 2015. He has worked with spider silk and its recombinant forms since 1998 while attending the University of Wyoming.