AMSilk tailoring proteins for performance textiles
Synthetic silk biopolymer developer AMSilk has joined hands with Brain Biotech, a manufacturer of bioactives and speciality enzymes also based in Germany, in a bid to optimise and expand its protein technology platform to better meet the demands of performance textile fibres.
AMSilk will focus on harnessing its partner’s expertise to modify specific, molecular-level properties of underlying structural proteins for new and improved applications in functional clothing and footwear, the company’s head of business opportunities and development, Dr Andreas Schmideder, said.
Head of research and development at Brain Biotech’s main industrial site in Zwingenberg, Dr Alexander Pelzer, added that the facility's protein engineering specialists and in-house enzyme technology unit would work closely with AMSilk to “achieve the desired properties for high-performance fibres”. Located in southern Hesse, the plant has now been operational for 30 years.
Back in November, AMSilk relocated to a new Munich biotech lab and office complex, three times the size of its previous headquarters, as part of a five-year plan to scale up production.
Sports brand adidas previously used AMSilk’s biodegradable, silk-like Biosteel fibre for the uppers of a Futurecraft Biofabric prototype athletic shoe.
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