ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) ("the Company" or "Kraig Labs"), announces today what it considers to be a major milestone. The Company has completed rearing of the first generation of its new BAM-1 parental strains as part of its spring production trial. Kraig Labs has successfully produced cocoon at rates that exceeded all expectations and control parameters for these trials.
Under the supervision and guidance of a top independent sericulture expert, Dr. Nirmal Kumar, whom the Company brought in to oversee these trials, Kraig Labs has now finished the critical rearing stage for both parental strains of the BAM-1 hybrid. Each parental strain was divided into two batches, creating a total of four separate production trial groups. The result was an absolute success, with all four production batches achieving excellent growth rates and nearly perfect cocooning.
Dr. Nirmal Kumar inspecting BAM-1 cocoons created by Kraig Labs
"I am very impressed with the robustness of the BAM-1 parental lines," said Dr. Nirmal Kumar. "The colony has exhibited perfect health and grown very quickly. The team's rearing skills are rapidly advancing, and they are ready to increase production. Based on what I have observed from rearing this first generation, I expect that the Company will have a very successful production scale-up."
The launch of these operations, after careful preparation and under the supervision of a renowned sericultural expert, demonstrated that the BAM-1 parental lines meet the performance and robustness necessary for large-scale production. With the successful completion of cocooning, the Company can confirm that the BAM-1 line has proven it is ready for scale-up. Over the next two weeks the Company will collect the moths from these cocoons to breed the next generation of production hybrid silkworms and conclude the critical parental line trial.
Meticulous testing and screening of the silkworms throughout the entire rearing cycle proved that the BAM-1 lines are the strongest, most robust recombinant spider silk strains the Company has ever produced. With zero observation of disease within any of the four production batches, the Company and its consultants are now prepared to accelerate the drive to reach metric-ton-level production.
"The BAM-1 hybrids have exceeded our expectations thanks in part to our team, our outside consultants, and Dr. Nirmal Kumar's guidance," said Company founder and CEO, Kim Thompson. "Initial results have shown faster growth rates, nearly perfect cocooning rates, and larger cocoon size than we have seen even in our own R&D center. We are in an entirely new ball game now."
The current production trial will continue to run for two or three weeks. Additional data on each of the four production batches is being collected and processed. "We are 85% to 90% through the trial of the parental strains, and every single batch of our new strains sailed through what we expected to be the toughest challenges," continued Thompson. "Even in advance of the conclusion of the trials, I am happy to report that our two-year program of acclimation to the production environment appears to have been achieved."
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Kraig Labs’ specialized recombinant spider silk silkworms spinning cocoons
Kraig Labs’ BAM-1 cocoons on mountage
BAM-1 spider silk cocoons under UV light
About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (www.KraigLabs.com), a reporting biotechnology company is the leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk-based fiber technologies.
The Company has achieved a series of scientific breakthroughs in the area of spider silk technology with implications for the global textile industry.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information
Statements in this press release about the Company's future and expectations other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements." These statements are made on the basis of management's current views and assumptions. As a result, there can be no assurance that management's expectations will necessarily come to pass. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as "believes," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "foresees," "estimated," "hopes," "if," "develops," "researching," "research," "pilot," "potential," "could" or other words or phrases of similar import. Forward looking statements include descriptions of the Company's business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions and goals. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security.
Ben Hansel, Hansel Capital, LLC
(720) 288-8495
ir@KraigLabs.com
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