1.   But the very properties that make silk proteins strong also make them difficult to produce.

2.   It turns out that the way mammals produce milk proteins and spiders make silk proteins are broadly similar.

3.   Knight and Vollrath believe that chemical conditions in the duct, like acidity and the concentration of potassium, are crucial for the silk proteins to unwind properly.

4.   Silk proteins are long, complex molecules, stretching hundreds to thousands of amino acids long, and are difficult to decode.

5.   The silk proteins are purified out of the milk into a whitish liquid with the consistency of maple syrup and then spun into fibers.

6.   This milk is first skimmed of fat, and salt is added to make the silk proteins curdle into thin whitish particles that promptly sink to the bottom.

7.   Until now, scientists had decoded silk proteins from only four species of orb weavers.

8.   Within the silk gland, the silk proteins are dissolved in highly concentrated solution that is half water, half proteins.

9.   But Nexia President Jeffrey Turner says he can increase production to commercial scale using goats that would produce the silk protein in their milk.

10.   The silk protein is produced in a liquid about the thickness of maple syrup, Turner said.