ANN ARBOR — Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. (OTC: KBLB), the Ann Arbor-based biotech developer of silk with the strength of spiderwebs, announced that the company has been named as a finalist for three awards being given by the world’s largest international textile machinery trade show, Internationale Textilmaschinen Ausstellung (translated, the International Textile Machinery Exhibition).
The exhibition will be held Nov. 12-19 in Milan, Italy.
Kraig is up for ITMA 15 Future Materials Awards for most innovative small company, the best innovation in protective textiles, and the best innovation in sustainable textiles.
“I would like to thank ITMA, the world’s largest international textile machinery exhibition, for recognizing our technology and efforts, and congratulate the other finalists for making the shortlist,” said Kim K. Thompson, Kraig founder and CEO. “I believe that the recognition by the ITMA … is a testament to the continued effort of our team, our technology and our shareholders.”
Added Kraig COO Jon Rice: “We are grateful for the recognition by ITMA of our successes and the investments of our team and our shareholders in creating high performance, sustainable, petroleum-free fibers. Our team continues to demonstrate that it is possible to deliver best in class material performance without compromising environmental responsibility.”
More about the awards at https://www.futurematerialsawards.com/.
Science has long known that spider silk has incredible toughness — but since spiders are cannibals, they cannot be raised in concentrated colonies to produce their silk in commercial quantities. Kraig acquired the rights to patented genetic sequences for spider silk protein, and genetially engineered them into the domesticated silkworm.
Kraig says silk with spider genetics has promise as a life-saving ballistic resistant material, structural material, or any application in which light weight and high strength are required. Spider silk, Kraig says, is unit for unit stronger than steel or Kevlar, and far lighter than steel. More about Kraig’s technology at http://www.kraiglabs.com/spider-silk/.