[jorions]

Totally agreed. While this article isn't completely clear on whether complete fabrics have yet been produced, the nature of the relationships these guys are forming with other companies certainly seems to imply that they have some semi-viable or completely viable materials already produced. A year or more before they have a product to market doesn't mean it will be that long until they have perfected the process, but rather that is how long until they hop through the numerous hoops involved with contracts, branding, marketing, and distribution. And the founders are spot on - these sorts of things always start as expensive, small batch items. It doesn't mean it's not able to be scaled, just that it hasn't been yet.

Also, there is actually already a precedent for clothing being "grown" with bacteria, including specifically yeast (http://www.dezeen.com/2014/02/12/movie-biocouture-microbes-c...). Seems to me that the unique thing in this instance is the nature of the finished material - they were initially being funded by the military so these fabrics may be more "high performance" than their current yeast-grown counterparts. Either way given that there are multiple efforts to take these products to market I would not say that it is a pipe dream to commercialize on a large scale.

[the8472]

> they were initially being funded by the military so these fabrics may be more "high performance"

This isn't genuine spider silk though, if it had comparable performance they would certainly state so in interviews. The military probably is interested in "kevlar or better", which spider silk itself promises but has so far proved to be elusive.

Competing with regular clothing fiber such as cotton is a lower bar.