Dixie Forum: A Window to the World

Dixie State University’s weekly “Dixie Forum: A Window on the World” forum , features a presentation on research conducted on spider silks by Utah State University USTAR Professor of Biology Dr. Randy Lewis. 

Dr. Lewis joined USU in 2011 as USTAR Professor of Biology and in the Synthetic Biomanufacturing Center. His group has published over 130 papers in a wide variety of journals and has written 16 book chapters. In addition, they have had seven issued patents, and have received grants totaling over $31 million. Dr. Lewis has mentored 18 Ph.D. and 3 M.S. students, and currently has six Ph.D. students and 22 undergraduates.

Dr. Lewis’ research has focused on spider silks and the proteins they are made from. Through his work over the past 20 years, he and his group of researchers have identified, through DNA cloning, the proteins, including glue proteins, that make up all six of the different silks which spiders can make. With that information they proposed the key parts of the proteins that are responsible for the high elasticity and the tensile strength of these fibers.

Based on that data they constructed synthetic genes that make proteins in which the elastic or strength elements have been systematically varied. These proteins have been produced in bacteria and purified, and are now being spun in to fibers to determine the effects of the different elements. Dr. Lewis’ group currently can produce fibers that have energies to break greater than Kevlar and steel. The goal of this work is to provide a method to produce fibers with custom designed strength and elasticity for applications such as ligament and tendon repair/replacement, high tech clothing, and parachutes, among many other practical uses.

Dr. Lewis received his Bachelor’s degree from CalTech in 1972, and a Master’s of Science and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California at San Diego. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology. Lewis joined the faculty at University of Wyoming in 1980, and was Professor of Molecular Biology until 2011. He served as department chair for five years and as a special assistant to the vice president for research. 

DSU’s weekly Dixie Forum series will continue its 2013 Fall Semester slate on Tuesday, October 29, with a special collaboration with DOCUTAH, featuring a presentation of the documentary film, “Way of Life,” and a discussion with the filmmaker Michael Daube.