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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The Spider Silk Laboratory at MHH is seeing a decline in spider offspring. Cocoons from Australia are now being used to refresh the gene pool.
For more than 20 years, orb-weaving spiders of the species Trichonephila edulis have been serving research at Hannover Medical School (MHH). In a room specially prepared for them in the Laboratory for Regenerative Biology at the Department for Plastic, Aesthetic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, the eight-legged creatures live and provide a valuable product for new therapeutic possibilities: spider silk. spider silk. However, the population is ageing. Because only related animals inevitably mate in laboratory breeding over generations, the consequences are now visible: the males are becoming unnaturally large, the fertility rate is declining and there are fewer and fewer offspring. In order to refresh the gene pool and ensure the survival of the spider community, laboratory director Dr. Sarah Strauß contacted Australia, the original home of the golden orb-weaver spider, in the summer of 2024. After more than a year of waiting, twelve fertilised cocoons were flown to Germany in special transport containers at the beginning of September 2025 and delivered to the MHH. Most of the spiders have now hatched and are living in quarantine terrariums at the Spider Silk Laboratory until they reach sexual maturity.
Long wait for export licence
Until the Australian authorities granted permission to export the cocoons, Dr. Strauß had to expend a great deal of energy, exercise patience and cope with setbacks. ‘At first, I thought we could simply order the spiders from a terrarium shop,’ she says. But the golden orb-weaver spider was not available. The biologist then turned to the Australian authorities to obtain fertilised cocoons. But the export of live animals is extremely regulated, and only native Australians are allowed to take animals out of the country under strict conditions. Dr Strauß wrote to scientific institutions, universities and zoos asking for support. The curator of the Arachnid Department at the Australian Museum in Sydney was the only one to respond and promised to help. ‘He was quite surprised that we were conducting medical research with the animals here and was happy to support us.’ But although the golden orb-weaver spider is a widespread species in Australia, similar to the cross spider in Germany, the animals were nowhere to be found. A possible reason: climate change. At the end of February, the Australian colleague reported that he had finally found cocoons. But that was not the end of the wait for the biologist.
Central animal laboratory organises transport
‘The Australian authorities wanted extensive documentation, ranging from my CV and scientific publications to third-party funding, laboratory equipment and a statement from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation,’ recalls Dr. Strauß. Then the cocoons had to be submitted for examination. In the meantime, with the help of the MHH's Central Animal Laboratory, transport was organised, special transport tubes with sterile filters were sent to Australia so that the cocoons could be packed safely and protected from germs, and a company specialising in animal transport was commissioned to oversee the transfer of the box from Australia to Germany. After veterinary inspection at Frankfurt Airport, the transport company brought the crate to the Central Animal Laboratory in Hanover. There, a veterinary entry inspection was carried out before the cocoons were finally allowed to move into their new home, the Spider Silk Laboratory.
Spider offspring in butterfly cage
‘Some cocoons are still in special quarantine containers, but we have transferred the spiderlings that have already hatched to butterfly cages, which we use as spider nurseries,’ explains the laboratory manager. Unlike adult spiders, the mini spiders do not live there as solitary creatures, but in a communal web. The tiny creatures work as a team to catch their much larger prey: fruit flies, which the Institute of Cell Biochemistry provides for breeding. It takes six to nine months for the spiderlings to reach sexual maturity. Until then, the laboratory spiders occupy the room, which is criss-crossed with branches and strings, where the 25 females currently spin their webs. The strings show the males, which are only a few millimetres in size, where they can find their much larger mates ready for mating.
First matings in quarantine
Dr Strauß does not yet know whether this will also work with the new Australian arrivals. "Our spiders originally come from German zoos. They have been living with us for generations and may have developed their own language through isolation," the biologist points out. The males pluck at the web when they want to make contact with the females. It is still unclear whether they pluck in the same way in the Australian wilderness. The reddish-brown new arrivals already differ visually from the cream-coloured laboratory spider babies. The compatibility of the silk threads must also be re-examined in cell culture. ‘But I assume that there will be no problems,’ says Dr Strauß. As a precaution, the first matings will take place in quarantine. Then, the biologist hopes, there will be more occupied webs in the spider laboratory again in the future.
Versatile use of spider silk
Professor Dr Peter Vogt is also delighted with the increase in the spider population, which will enable further research and application of spider silk in the future. ‘We have been working intensively on its use in the field of regenerative medicine for years and have developed many application techniques and medical products,’ says the department director. Spider silk is known for its special mechanical properties, such as extreme elasticity and tear resistance. The clinic uses the retaining thread of the golden orb-weaver spider – its safety rope, so to speak, which it produces reflexively. The silk is extremely thin, completely biodegradable in the human body and suitable as a biomatrix for colonisation with body cells. The threads help in the reconstruction of destroyed nerves and in tissue cultivation, for example in the replacement of destroyed skin, cartilage and tendons.
SERVICE:
Further information is available from Dr Sarah Strauß, strauss.sarah@mh-hannover.de.
New additions to the spider laboratory: the tiny spiderlings of the Australian golden orb-weaver spi ...
Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH.
A fully grown female orb-weaver spider.
Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH.
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New additions to the spider laboratory: the tiny spiderlings of the Australian golden orb-weaver spi ...
Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH.
A fully grown female orb-weaver spider.
Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH.
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