Spidergoats in Margaret Atwood's Year of the Flood

[Wulfgar22]

I mentioned this in the What are you reading? thread but thought I'd post it here, too...Margaret Atwood, in her latest book The Year of the Flood, writes: "She'd worn [...] a bulletproof vest made of silk from a spider/goat splice...". Great minds and all that!!

[3llense'g]

Actually no, Spiedergoats are a real thing. They produce web instead of milk (I think).

[Wulfgar22]

Wow. I had no idea...and apparently the company that has engineered this does intend to use the silk for bulletproof vests. Truth really is stranger than fiction. So does spider/goat silk predate the spidergoats of Mutant Future?

[jcftao]

Yes, genetically modified goats are producing spider silk in their milk, yet they apparently behave as normal goats...darn!

http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/meet-spider-goat-the-dna-enhanced-web-flinging-nanny-that-may-one-day-knit-your-bones/story-fn5fsgyc-1225867617374