In the current research, cells were taken from the mammary glands of dairy cows and genetically modified with spider genes to produce the proteins used to make spider silk. The proteins were then stretched and spun from an aqueous solution into fine silk fibres.
"We're not perfectly mimicking nature, but this shows a major breakthrough that no-one has been able to achieve before," says Jeff Turner, president of Nexia.
David Knight, a research zoologist at Oxford University, says that the new research is impressive: "It is the first time that they have got a pure protein that is soluble, despite being so hydrophobic.