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Kraig
Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCBB: KBLB)
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Dear Reader,
Recognize this Super-Hero
and his famous suit of clothes?
Spiderman
photo courtesy of Photobucket.com
You might be asking yourself, "What has that got to do with Stockupticks?"
Well the company we're introducing you to today is in the business of developing,
among other polymers and fibers, Spider Silk. That's right, genetically
reproduced Spider Silk. It's a fascinating story. The CEO has been
working on the R&D of a synthetic variety for the better part of a
decade and the company has just begun trading publicly. The eventual
applications seem endless and KBLB is on the leading edge of developing
a bio-engineered type of this silk polymer available for mass production
- something that has so far eluded many scientists. Please take a
few moments to read the profile below. We're quite confident you
too will be fascinated with this story.
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About Kraig Biocraft Labs |
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Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. ("Kraig""KBLB") is a biotechnology company focused on the development of commercially significant
high performance polymers and technical fiber. Based on proprietary genetic
engineering technology, Kraig is working to develop and produce polymers
and protein-based materials including Spider Silk. The company believes
that Spider Silk is a “super fiber” that will have numerous commercial
and consumer applications.
Applications of High Performance Fibers
High performance technical fibers are currently
used in a wide variety of military, industrial, and consumer applications
requiring superior strength, toughness and flexibility. Kraig investments
in genetic research are focused on product development and innovative near
term solutions to meet the practical problems of our world. Kraig is sponsoring
genetic research at laboratories within the University
of Notre Dame to create new polymers for
the broad commercial markets that have been waiting for the next evolution
of materials. Kraig has also been working with leading universities in
the fields of genetics and genetic engineering to develop new varieties
of recombinant fibers including spider silks and spider silk analogs.
Kraig has obtained the exclusive right, in its field of research, for
the spider silk gene sequences which are at the core of its technology.
These genetic sequences were first studied and subsequently patented by Dr. Randy Lewis of the University of Wyoming (Dr. Lewis is a
KBLB scientific adviser). In early 2006, Kraig obtained certain
exclusive rights from the University of Wyoming to utilize the spider silk
DNA sequences in its field of use.
Genetic Engineering is the means by which KBLB can manipulate DNA to
modify and create new biochemical products. At Kraig, the trademark saying
is "The future is made in
the laboratory" and that's more than a slogan. It is
the company's future, and that of the next generation of materials science
that KBLB is making with those genetic sequences. Management at KBLB is
focused on the development of high strength materials and industrial polymers
by working through collaborative research and licensing agreements in the
field of genetics, with leading university laboratories.
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What's So Special About Spider Silk? |
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It
is five times as strong as steel, twice as elastic as polyamide fibers
(it
can be stretched by 31% without breaking),
it
is more elastic than aramid fiber,
it
is finer than a human hair,
and
lighter than cotton.
Life
Science and Genetic Technology
Spider Silk is among the strongest fibers produced in nature. Some spider species are capable of producing up to seven different types
of silk depending upon the spider's particular need at that time. For example,
a spider will use one type of silk to make the structural supports for
it web, and another type to wrap its captured pray. Drag line silk, the
silk used when a spider is repelling, is of particular commercial interest.
This natural polymer is both extremely strong and extremely flexible.
However, spider silk is much less dense than
steel; its tensile strength to density ratio is roughly five times
higher than that of steel (i.e. it is five times as strong as steel of
the same density — as strong as Aramid filaments, such as Twaron or Kevlar.)
In fact, a strand of spider silk long enough to circle the earth would
weigh less than 16 ounces (450 g).
- Dragline silk: Used
for the web's outer rim and spokes, as well as for the lifeline. As strong
as steel, but much tougher.
- Capture-spiral silk:
Used for the capturing lines of the web. Sticky, extremely stretchy and
tough.
- Tubiliform silk:
Used for protective egg sacs. Stiffest silk.
- Aciniform silk: Used
to wrap and secure freshly captured prey. Two to three times as tough as
the other silks.
- Minor-ampullate silk:
Used for minor, all-purpose applications.
Spider silk is composed of complex protein molecules.
This, coupled with the isolation relating from the spider's predatory nature,
has made the study and replication of the substance quite challenging.
Because of the repetitive nature of the DNA encoding the silk protein,
it is difficult to determine its sequence and to date, silk-producing sequences
have only been decoded for fourteen species of spider. In 2005, independent
researchers in the University of Wyoming (Tian and Lewis),
University of the Pacific (Hu and Vierra), the University of California
at Riverside (Garb and Hayashi) and Shinshu University (Zhao and Nakagaki)
have uncovered the molecular structure of the gene for the protein that
various female spider species use to make their silken egg cases.
Although different species of spider, and different
types of silk, have different protein sequences, a general trend in spider
silk structure is a sequence of amino acids (usually alternating glycine
and alanine, or alanine alone) that self-assemble into a beta sheet conformation.
These "Ala rich" blocks are separated by segments of amino acids with bulky
side-groups. The beta sheets stack to form crystals, whereas the other
segments form amorphous domains. It is the interplay between the hard
crystalline segments, and the elastic semi amorphous regions, that gives
spider silk its extraordinary properties.
The
spinneret apparatus of a Araneus diadematus consists of the following glands:
- 500 Glandulae piriformes for attachment
points
- 4 Glandulae ampullaceae for the web
frame
- About 300 Glandulae aciniformes for
the outer lining of egg sacs, and for ensnaring prey
- 4 Glandulae tubuliformes for egg sac
silk
- 4 Glandulae aggregatae for glue
- 2 Glandulae coronatae for the thread
of glue lines
HOW
THEY DO IT
Depending on the species, spiders will have anything
from two to eight spinnerets, usually in pairs. The beginning of the gland
is rich in thiol and tyrosine groups. After this beginning process, the
ampulla acts as a storage sac for the newly created fibers. From there,
the spinning duct effectively removes water from the fiber and through
fine channels also assists in its formation. Lipid secretions take place
just at the end of the distal limb of the duct, and proceeds to the valve.
The valve is believed to assist in rejoining broken fibers, acting much
in the way of a helical pump.
Unspun silk dope is pulled through silk glands,
resulting in a transition from stored gel to final solid fiber. Many species
of spider have different glands for different jobs, such as housing and
web construction, defense, capturing and detaining prey, mobility and in
extreme cases even as food. Thus, different specialized silks have evolved
with material properties optimized for their intended use.
What Experts Have Observed
in Regard to Spider Silks
"If you've ever sort
of pushed aside a spider web, you've noted that it pulls before it breaks,"
says Paula Hammond,
associate professor
of chemical engineering, and director of laboratories and leader of the
research team for chemical and biological protection
at the Institute
for Soldier Nanotechnologies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Spider silk goes
through this sort of stretching before it breaks, and in doing so, it absorbs
a lot of energy.
The energy that
you're putting into pushing it or pulling it is actually being taken up
by the stretching process.
This energy-absorbing
process is what makes the material so tough."
Spider dragline silk
"exhibits a combination of strength and toughness unmatched by high-performance
synthetic fibers,"
says David A.Tirrell,
a materials scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Even though it's
lighter, dragline silk has proven itself in many ways superior to Kevlar,
the strongest synthetic polymer,
agrees Lynn W. Jelinski,
a biophysicist at Cornell University. "The question is whether we
can use our understanding
of dragline silk
proteins to produce a bio-inspired material
Randolph V. Lewis,
a molecular biologist at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, has
identified genes
for dragline silk's
two main proteins. His team famously cloned portions of those genes.
Ideally,
he wants to do more
than just replicate natural silk strands.
"I want to control
silk's properties," Lewis says.
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The Market and the Applications |
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a
| The DNA research that has been conducted in laboratories
around the world over the last 20 years, has paved the way for new products
and opened up commercial opportunities that would have been undreamed of
a generation ago.
DNA instructs cells in their life processes. Genetic
engineering is the means by which that machinery is employed. |
Artist Kebes using vector
drawing software Structure of spider silk. Inside a typical fiber, one
finds crystalline regions separated by amorphous linkages. The crystals
are beta-sheets that have assembled together.
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Transgenics is the scientific process of decoding
the genetic instructions of an organism and applying those instructions
to another organism. In that way, bio chemicals and other products can
be produced and delivered on an industrial scale.
KBLB is at the forefront
of the coming revolution in materials technology. |
... a little history of spider
silk applications ...
Peasants in the southern
Carpathian Mountains used to cut up tubes built by Atypus and cover wounds
with the inner lining. It reportedly facilitated healing, and even connected
with the skin. This is believed to be due to antiseptic properties of spider
silk (which is made of protein) Some fishermen in the indo-pacific ocean
use the web of Nephila to catch small fish.
In 1709 a Frenchman, Bon de Saint-Hilaire, demonstrated
the possibility of making fabric from spider silk. Many cocoons were boiled,
washed and dried and the thread was collected with fine combs. Some socks
and gloves were produced. A study to the economic yield of this method
revealed that this would never be profitable. It was calculated that 1.3
million spider cocoons were needed to produce one kilogram of silk.
Polynesian fishermen use the thread of the golden
orb web weaver Nephila as fishing line. In the New-Hebrides spider web
was used to make nets for the transportation of arrow points, tobacco and
dried poison for the arrow points. Some tribes in New-Guinea used webs
as hat to protect their head from the rain.
During World War II the threads of Araneus diadematus,
Zilla atrica, Argiope aurantia and other orb weavers were used as hairs
in measuring equipment. The Americans used the threads of the black widow
(Latrodectus) in their telescopic gun sights.
MODERN APPLICATIONS
Genetic Engineering, is the key to a brighter future for both
consumers and industry.
BIOENGINEERED
SPIDER SILKS HAVE TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL IN THE MARKET PLACE FOR HIGH STRENGTH,
LIGHT-WEIGHT MATERIALS SUCH AS:
Bulletproof vests, parachute
cords, suspension cables, wear-resistant shoes
and clothing, seat belts, rust-free
bumpers for automobiles,
artificial tendons and ligaments
Scientists have previously suggested that a mere
pencil-thick strand of silk could actually stop a Boeing 747 in mid flight.
As with all things having to do
with thin reinforced materials,
the U.S. military has in the
past expressed great interest in spider silks. In fact, the U.S. Army funded
research into production methods for spider silk, but was unable to replicate
the mechanical properties of the fiber as produced in nature. But interest
in the new material doesn't stop there. Clothing and fabric companies could
also benefit from the discovery as well as medical companies that make
stents and other biomedical devices.
G R E
E N
The interest in spider silk is mainly due to a combination
of its mechanical properties and the non-polluting way in which it is made.
The production of modern man-made super-fibers such as Kevlar involves
petrochemical processing, which contributes to pollution. Kevlar is also
drawn from concentrated sulphuric acid.
In contrast, spider silk is completely biodegradable.
While bio-engineered spider silk is still in development
at Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, the company believes that these
recombinant materials have the potential to ignite a revolution in materials
sciences and open up new applications and markets for high strength biodegradable
materials.
a kevlar vest
A P P L I C A T I O N
I N C E N T I V E S
As an example of the market
potential for ballistic protection alone: Of George W. Bush’s recent $87
billion package for ongoing military operations, $300 million has been
earmarked for troop body armor. For the Army's current system, that does
not incorporate spider silks, the cost is about $1,585 per soldier.
Personal protection doesn't come cheap.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway)
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The Challenge |
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... from natural Spider Silk ...
Stretching of silk, 1, 5 and 20
times.
Ed Nieuwenhuys, 07 October, 1997
... to artificial, DNA engineered fibers ...
The double helix structure of DNA
as viewed through a scanning electron microscope
Hailed as one of nature’s most remarkable materials,
Spider Silk is made when spiders spin liquid protein into solid fibers.
While the superior properties of spider silks are well known, there is
presently no known way to produce the fibers in commercial quantity. The
spiders are cannibalistic, and cannot be raised in concentrated colonies.
This technological barrier has stymied Spider Silk production. Kraig Labs,
in cooperation with two leading universities, has obtained proprietary
genetic engineering technology to unlock the mystery. Kraig Labs is working
cooperatively with the universities to reduce to practice its technology for
the commercial production of Spider Silk.
Cracking the Code
"By cracking the genetic code of spider silk, scientists hope not
only to be able to duplicate the material but perhaps even to improve on
it."
National
Geographic Channel, January 14, 2005 - click
here for the entire article
"We're trying to alter both the strength and elasticity
of the natural silks," Dr. Randy Lewis said.
"We've made a number of different synthetic genes
based on what we found in natural silks—but altered in
ways to make them even stronger and more flexible. We're really trying
to control elasticity,
so you if come to me and ask for a certain tensile strength
and elasticity, I can make a gene that will produce a fiber that does that
for you."
"When we say spider silk is tougher than things like Kevlar
[a plastic used to make body armor] that's what were talking about. Kevlar
has higher tensile strength but it's not very stretchy," said Todd Blackledge*,
an entomologist at the University of Akron.
*Dr. Blackledge is not associated with KBLB
"One that's initially surprising is air bags,"
Lewis added. "Right now an air bag just sort of blasts you back into a
seat.
But if it were made out of this material it would actually
be made to absorb energy and really reduce impact." WOW!
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Managing the research &
development process.
Working in cooperation with university laboratories, Kraig creates
efficiency by bringing technologies together from diverse research
institutions and combining them. This is done under the direction of the
company's management and in cooperation with the leading academic laboratories
in its fields of research.
The Kraig Research Initiative is
the KBLB program for working with and funding university scientists and
laboratories to create technologies with significant commercial applications.
As a part of this program, KBLB has licensed university intellectual property
in the fields of genetics and genetic engineering.
KBLB works in cooperation with leading universities to add value
to its proprietary technology. KBLB sponsors and collaborates
on research within the universities' genetic engineering laboratories as
a means of employing the greatest minds in its discipline.
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Leadership and Experience at Kraig |
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KIM
THOMPSON
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As the CEO of the company, Mr.
Thompson is the only member of the scientific advisory board who is also
a part of the corporation's management. His formal education lies in the
fields of economics and law. He received his B.A. in Applied Economics
from James Madison College at Michigan State University. He received his
Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994.
Mr. Thompson is the named inventor
in a pending provisional patent application for a number of organic polymers.
The patent application has been assigned to the benefit of the company.
A central part of the company's work is in reducing those inventions to
practice. Mr. Thompson founded Kraig Biocraft Laboratories in his pursuit
of the development of new biotechnologies with industrial applications. |
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BOARD OF SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS
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Malcolm. J. Fraser, Jr. Ph.D.a |
Dr. Fraser received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University,
and performed postdoctoral research at both Penn State University and Texas
A & M University. At Texas A & M he was a part of the team which
developed the genetic expression system which is now a widely used methodology
for producing organic molecules, including pharmaceuticals, on an industrial
scale.
In 2006, Dr. Fraser was awarded $2.5 million from the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation to fund "deliverable technologies" in
the field of transgenesis, for the prevention of mosquito born disease.
Dr. Fraser is a member of the faculty at the University
of Notre Dame, where he heads the Fraser Laboratory. The focus of his
work is molecular genetics. He is the author or co-author of numerous scientific
articles in the field of genetic engineering and gene manipulation. |
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Randy Lewis, Ph.D.
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Dr. Lewis received his B.S. in chemistry from the California
Institute of Technology. He received his M.S. in chemistry and his Ph.D.
in Biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Lewis is internationally renowned for his work on
spider silk. He is also the named inventor of a number of patents relating
to spider silk polymers. He is a member of the faculty at the University
of Wyoming, where he heads the Lewis Laboratory within the Department of
Molecular Biology. The study of spider silk polymers and their underlying
genetics is a major focus of Dr. Lewis's research. A brief list of Dr.
Lewis' most current published papers is listed below. |
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(2004) Gregory P. Holland, Randolph
V. Lewis, and Jeffrey L.Yarger WISE NMR Characterization of Nanoscale Heterogeneity
and Mobility in Supercontracted Nephila clavipes Spider Dragline Silk,
J. Am .Chem. Soc. 126: 5867-5872.
(2004) Hayashi CY, Blackledge
TA, Lewis RV. Molecular and mechanical characterization of aciniform silk:
uniformity of iterated sequence modules in a novel member of the spider
silk fibroin gene family. Mol Biol Evol . 21(10):1950-9.
(2004) M Tian, C Liu, and R
Lewis, Analysis of Major Ampullate Silk cDNAs from Two Non-Orb-Weaving
Spiders. Biomacromolecules 5(3): 657-661.
(2004) Brooks A.E. and Lewis,
R.V., "Probing the Elastic Nature of Spider Silk in Pursuit of the Next
Designer Fiber" in Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation : Vol. 40, pg: 232
– 237.
(2004) Motriuk-Smith, M. and
Lewis, R.V. "Brown Widow (Latrodectus Geometricus) Major Ampullate Silk
Protein And Its Material Properties" in Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation
: Vol. 40, pg: 64-69.
(2005) Tian, M.; Lewis, R. V.
“Molecular Characterization and Evolutionary Study of Spider Tubuliform
(Eggcase) Silk Protein” Biochemistry : 44(22); 8006-8012.
(2005) Dagmara Motriuk-Smith,
Alyson Smith, Cheryl Y. Hayashi, Randolph V. Lewis Analysis of the conserved
N-terminal domains in major ampullate spider silk proteins (in press, Biomacromolecules
). |
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Financial Information for KBLB |
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Sector: Basic Materials
Industry: Synthetics
Price: 0.50 - Date: Feb 29
Estimated Market Cap: 24.97M
Shares Outstanding: 49.93M
For a PDF viewable in AdobeReader of the KBLB 10Qsb Report for the period ended 09/30/07, Click
Here
For the latest FREE version of Adobe Reader, click on
the logo below to be redirected to the Adobe site.
SAMPLE TEXTNOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS
SEPTEMBER 30, 2007
(UNAUDITED)
KBLB expects to spend approximately
$150,000 on collaborative research and development of high strength polymers
at the University of Notre Dame over the next twelve months. We believe
that this research is essential to our product development. If our financing
will allow, management will give strong consideration to accelerating the
pace of spending on research and development within the University of Notre
Dame’s laboratories.
KBLB expects to spend approximately
$13,800 on collaborative research and development of high strength polymers
and spider silk protein at the University of Wyoming over the next twelve
months. We believe that this research is important to our product development.
This level of research spending at the university is also a requirement
of our licensing agreement with the university. If our financing will allow,
management will give strong consideration to accelerating the pace of spending
on research and development within the University of Wyoming’s laboratories.
KBLB will consider buying an established
revenue producing company which is operating in the biotechnology arena,
in order to broaden our financial base and increase KBLB research and development
capability. KBLB expects to use a combination of stock and cash for any
such purchase. KBLB will also actively consider pursuing collaborative
research opportunities with university laboratories in areas of research
which overlap the company’s existing research & development. One such
potential area for collaborative research which the company is considering
is protein expression platforms. If KBLB's financing will allow, management
will give strong consideration to increasing the breadth of our research
to include protein expression platform technologies.
Research and development expenses for the nine months ended September
30, 2007 was $136,093. This compares to $155,780 spent on research and
development in the period from April 25, 2006 to September 30, 2006. The
decrease in research and development is primarily attributable to the company
entering into a research and development agreement with the University
of Notre Dame whereby we are sponsoring research and development within
the university's laboratories. The decrease in research and development
expense is secondarily attributable to payments made to the University
of Wyoming for research that we are sponsoring in that university's laboratories.
As of September 30, 2007 KBLB had $201,335 in cash.
The company anticipates releasing its 2007 annual financial statements
shortly along with its annual disclosure statement.
KBLB has no off-balance sheet
arrangements. KBLB nor any of its subsidiaries
is a party to any pending or
threatened legal proceedings.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories,
Inc. is represented by the law firm of: Anslow & Jaclin, LLP, 195 Route
9 South, Suite 204, Manalapan , NJ 07726.
KBLB auditors are: Webb
& Company, P.A., 1501 Corporate Drive, Suite 150, Boynton Beach , FL
33426.
The KBLB transfer agent:
Registrar & Transfer Company, 10 Commerce Drive, Cranford, NJ
07016-3572 - (800) 866-1340.
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TO CONTACT KBLB |
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Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.
Kim Thompson, CEO
120 North Washington Square, Suite 805, Lansing, Michigan
48933
Telephone: (517) 336-0807 - Email: corporate@KraigLabs.com
Web site: www.kraiglabs.com
120 N. Washington Sq.
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