Spiderman pixabay

What if you went on a field trip to a most advanced biological research facility. Unfortunately, an accident happens, and a genetically modified spider bit you. You thought it was an infection but develop strange abilities. You can crawl to walls and have superhuman agility, stamina, and healing. I know you are getting the sense of becoming a spiderman. I am fascinated with mutants and superheroes. When I was a child, I dream of becoming a superhero and let a spider bit me to become a spiderman. You know there are a lot of perks to becoming a spiderman. An idea came across my head when I was watching some clips on YouTube. Is it possible to create a real spiderman?

We are in an age where technology pops up and change the things we know. Genetics has advanced to a point where we can edit genes. Google AlphaFold makes a breakthrough in solving the protein folding problem. I think we can make a real spiderman, but it may not be sooner. In the Spiderman movie, a genetically modified spider bit Peter Parker, which causes him to develop peculiar abilities. The scientist synthesized the RNA of three species of spider to create 15 genetically advanced versions of it. Each spider embued with uniques characteristics: which are the ability to jump higher, to carry at most two hundred times its weight, and to produce a web that is stronger and tensile.

Is it possible to create a genetically advanced spider? There is a scientist who attempts to mix and match different genes for medical reasons. They harvest the genes to mix with the others to create a perfect ability for survival and adaptation. They try to figure if genes are compatible in harnessing the dormant characteristics in a species. But it is still a debatable research subject between scientists to date. Well, cross-breeding is possible among different species but limited to species with similar genetic structures. The cross-breeding of species, which poses different genetics, results in progeny with a lesser chance of adaptation in the real world. Creating a new species of spider is genetically possible; hence most of the functional genes are present. After fertilization, genes may adjust themselves to suit the environment. Why? It is for their survival. It is a primordial instinct of any species to seek survival and adaptation. We can take a look at mosquitos. They became so agile nowadays.

It is interesting to theorize about how two different species mix to create one and eventually create a spiderman. There is a lot of question, and it is open for debates. How are we going to proceed with fertilization? How can we stabilize the genes transferred from a spider to a human? Is it going to live after the trial? Cross-breeding different species has more questions than answers. It does not create a spiderman but chimeras.

Crystal structure of a CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance.wikimedia

How can we develop spiderman's abilities? In real life, we can't expose ourselves to radiation to become a spiderman. Radiation can alter DNA, but you are susceptible to cancer and radiation poising. The possible solution is genetic engineering. The first huddle in creating a real spiderman is how we can inject this new DNA coding into humans. The spider's venom has globar proteins. Unless these proteins carry a viral parasite that alters human DNA, the gene transfer happens. Luckily, we have the technology to do that. We can cut, paste and copy a portion of the DNA using CRISPR. CRISPR allows us to program transcription that enables us to activate or silence specific genes. By combining DNA from various animals, we can get proportion to develop the spiderman abilities.

Peter Parker developed a super strength after being bit by a spider. In comics, he can lift about 20 tons. The highest deadlift that a human able to do is about 1,000 pounds. Could we engineer a human to be able to hoist more than that? You know 10 tons is about 20,000 pounds. I may say it is a lot of work to do. Apes are incredibly powerful that Chimpanzees are able lifters than humans even with it is less muscular. They have 1.35 times maximum force and power as humans of the same size. It is because they have a unique mix of muscle fibers that amplify their strength. They have fast-twitch fibers that enable strength burst in short durations. We can found these fibers in the skeletal attachment of the body. Chimpanzees are not enough to reach a deadweight of 20,000 pounds. It may have twice of these fast-twitch fibers in humans, but it will not achieve a super strength. Gorillas are six times as strong as us. They have sturdier built. We want to look as human as possible. We have to modify the gene expression to activate only the additional skeletal muscles, denser bones, and beefier ligaments. If we achieve a perfect genetic code, we get a side effect of less fat storage. Our spiderman doesn't go fat.

Common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) feeding on fig. wikimedia

We can't manipulate the natural proteins in the human body like myostatin and testosterone. Myostatin inhibits muscle growth that causes denser muscle mass in animals due to the low production of myostatin. The Belgian Blue cows and the Bully Whippets dogs have naturally occurring myostatin inhibitors due to animal husbandry. Myostatin antibodies give an impressive result in lean muscle mass and power. The research was able to synthesized myostatin at Eli Lily. We can inject our spiderman with the genomic sequence that inhibits myostatin so that he will not do work out daily.

Testosterone helps promote growth and strength. It is an anabolic steroid that has an immediate and noticeable effect when used. Steroids have an adverse side effect, but we mixed a lot of species DNA already. Why not proceed? A weightlifter on steroids can expect to see about a fifty percent increase in lifting force. Nowadays, people are pumping natural testosterone levels. It is not too much to get a gene expression to do the job.

When we combine ape genes, testosterone pump, myostatin blocker, and other anabolic levels, we might get 10,000 pounds, and our spiderman looks like an average athlete. Our body physics may hit a limitation of more than 10,000 pounds. We may not reach the elusive 20,000 pounds, but our spiderman still has a decent muscle power that could knock out, disarm, and defend against multiple adversaries.

Close-up of the underside of a gecko's foot as it walks on vertical glass. wikimedia

Our spiderman must be able to cling to walls and ceilings. We can get some DNA from a gecko and mixed it with our spiderman's DNA using CRISPR. A gecko has natural gripping power. Researchers found out gecko's extreme grips on surfaces are due to the foot hairs of gecko work well in the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface. CRISPR snip on gecko's hair follicle gives us the spiderman's grip.

Next, we need our spiderman to have super reactions and reflexes. Spiderman has a faster reaction time as to our cats. We can say it is on par with bats. Human reaction time is around 130 to 250 milliseconds depending on the sense involved. Humans react quickly with touch as compared to visual and hearing. We might be able to speed up reaction time when we can hijack the brain through myelination. Myelination increases the fatty sheath that surrounds neuronal fibers. It gives a boost in neural synapses. The Myelin sheath insulates the axons and neurons like the rubbers in a copper wire. Neurons without insulating layers transmit neural impulses approximately at 5 meters per second. In contrast, it would reach 120 meters per second when it has a myelin sheath.

A neuron cell diagram, cropped to show oligodendrocyte and myelin sheath. wikimedia

Human reaction time takes thinking and transforming into action. It is prone to delayed for at least two milliseconds due to chemical synapses. A faster way of transmitting electrical signals is by fiber optics. If we can integrate a fiber-optic relay in our spiderman's brain, the brain-to-muscle neural synapses will be instantaneous. Researchers explored that there is a possibility for a cybernetic limb that directly hooks to our brain. Studies on fiber-optic implants show it is theoretically possible and biocompatible.

Reactions are voluntary response which requires conscious thoughts. In contrast, reflexes use sensory nerves, which bypass the central nervous system to respond quickly. We can also learn from octopus to speed up reflex time. The octopus has a nervous system in its arms. They have the fastest muscle reflexes due to 40 million tactile and chemical receptors per arm. We can snip some DNA from octopus for our spiderman to have octopus receptors in his skin.

Octopus paralarva, a planktonic hatchling. wikimedia

Our spiderman will not be complete without its spider-sense and web-shooting. In the comics, spider-sense is the ability to detect danger before it happens. Peter Parker avoids precariousness due to his heightened sense. We can say that a spider-sense is synonymous with super hearing and vision. Bats use echolocation to detect their environment. They honed it using specialized ear and ear hairs. Snakes have a thermal sensor that allows them to see infrared. Some animals can detect the Earth's magnetic field. Our spiderman can avoid most traps and projectiles when he has super hearing and vision.

For the web shooter, we can either use biological or mechanical means to produce it. We can strap a teaser that will knock out foes or shoot chemicals from our spiderman's wrist. We can't easily create spider silk. We can synthesize a version of it, but it is hard to roll out the silk into threads. Is it possible to create a real spiderman? Our technology has no means of putting these characteristics into a single genome expression and splices them into our DNA. It may be possible one day, but it is not achievable today.

References

1. Genome engineering using the CRISPR-Cas9 system
2. The function of myostatin in the regulation of fat mass in mammals
3. The Complicated Relationship Between Testosterone and Muscle Growth
4. Geckos' Sticky Secret? They Hang by Toe Hairs
5. How chimps outmuscle humans
6. Myelination and Tween Impulses
7. Myelin Dynamics Throughout Life: An Ever-Changing Landscape?
8. Myelination at a glance
9. Optical Neural Interfaces
10. The Mind of an Octopus
11. Why Octopus Arms Don’t Get Tangled
12. Snake infrared detection unravelled
13. Echolocation in bats
14. The Magnetic Sense of Animals
15. What would it take to become Spider Man using current and future science?
16. Spider-Man: Spidey science gets a genetic makeover
17. The Real Spider-Man
18. Jumping genes: Cross species transfer of genes has driven evolution
19. The Science Behind A Real-Life Spider-Man Is Absolutely Terrifying
20. The Physics of Spider-Man's Web