Business Description
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. is a corporation organized under the laws
of Wyoming on April 25, 2006. We were organized to develop high strength fibers
using recombinant DNA technology, for commercial applications in both the specialty
fiber and technical textile industries. Specialty fibers are engineered for
specific uses that require exceptional strength, flexibility, heat resistance
and/or chemical resistance. The specialty fiber market is exemplified by two
synthetic fiber products: aramid fibers and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
fiber. The technical textile industry involves products for both industrial
and consumer products, such as filtration fabrics, medical textiles (e.g., sutures
and artificial ligaments), safety and protective clothing and fabrics used in
military and aerospace applications (e.g., high-strength composite materials).
While scientists have been able to replicate the proteins that are the building
blocks of spider silk, the technological barrier that has stymied production
until now has been the inability to form these proteins into a fiber with the
desired mechanical characteristics and to do so in a cost effective manner.
We have licensed the right to use the patented genetic sequences and genetic
engineering technology developed in university laboratories. The Company has
been working collaboratively with university laboratories to develop fibers
with the mechanical characteristics of spider silk. We are applying this proprietary
genetic engineering technology to domesticated silkworms, which are already
the most efficient commercial producers of silk.
Our technology builds upon the unique advantages of the domesticated silkworm
for this application. The silkworm is ideally suited to produce recombinant
protein fiber because it is already an efficient commercial and industrial producer
of protein based polymers. Forty percent (40%) of the caterpillars’ weight
is devoted to the silk glands. The silk glands produce large volumes of protein,
called fibroin, which are then spun into a composite protein thread (silk).
We are working to use our genetic engineering technology to create recombinant
silk polymers. On September 29, 2010, we jointly announced with the University
of Notre Dame the success of our collaborative research with Notre Dame in creating
approximately twenty different strains of transgenic silkworm which produce
recombinant silk polymers. In April 2011, we entered into a licensing agreement
with Sigma-Aldrich which provides us the use of Sigma-Aldrich’s zinc finger
technology to accelerate and enhance our product development.
A part of our intellectual property portfolio is the exclusive right to use
certain patented spider silk gene sequences in silkworm. Under the Exclusive
License Agreement with the University of Wyoming, we have obtained certain exclusive
rights to use numerous genetic sequences which are the subject of US patents.
The introduction of the gene sequence, in the manner employed by us, results
in a germline transformation and is therefore self-perpetuating. This technology
is in essence a protein expression platform which has other potential applications
including diagnostics and pharmaceutical production.
