Via synthetic shield, artist explores human desire for invulnerability

New Scientist : Jalila Essaïdi , a “bioartist” in the Netherlands, recently worked with an international team to blend spider silk with human skin to try to produce a bulletproof material. The project, called 2.6g 329m/s , involved a Utah State University team, which genetically engineered goats to produce spider-silk proteins in their milk. Researchers in South Korea and Germany spun the proteins and wove them into a fabric, which was then wedged between bioengineered skin cells by a biochemist at Leiden University in the Netherlands. In making the material, Essaïdi, who uses biology and life sciences as an artistic medium, says she wanted “to explore the social, political, ethical and cultural issues surrounding safety in a world with access to new biotechnologies.” According to the artist, safety is a relative concept, as demonstrated by the “bulletproof” shield she constructed from the hybrid material, which succeeded in stopping a partially slowed bullet, but not one traveling at full speed.