ary ▁discuss es ▁synth etic ▁bi ology , ▁the ▁potential ▁of ▁science ▁" bre aking ▁down ▁nature ▁into ▁spare ▁parts " ▁and ▁then ▁re building ▁it ▁back ▁up ▁as ▁we ▁wish . ▁ ▁Sum mary ▁Adam ▁R uther ford ▁has ▁been ▁studying ▁the ▁emer ging ▁field ▁of ▁synth etic ▁bi ology ▁for ▁the ▁past ▁ 1 0 ▁years ▁and ▁bel ieves ▁that ▁this ▁sort ▁of ▁gen etic ▁t ink ering ▁is ▁the ▁most ▁effective ▁way ▁to ▁pass ▁along ▁tra its ▁between ▁different ▁organ isms , ▁given ▁that ▁this ▁result ▁cannot ▁be ▁easily ▁obtained ▁through ▁typical ▁m ating ▁of ▁certain ▁species . ▁In ▁Play ing ▁God , ▁he ▁discuss es ▁the ▁creation ▁of ▁the ▁sp ider - go at ▁by ▁American ▁research ers . ▁It ▁is ▁a ▁part ▁go at , ▁part ▁sp ider ▁hy brid , ▁whose ▁gen etic ▁code ▁has ▁been ▁alter ed ▁to ▁be ▁able ▁to ▁produce ▁the ▁same ▁prote ins ▁found ▁in ▁sp ider ▁sil k . ▁The ▁milk ▁produced ▁by ▁these ▁go ats ▁can ▁be ▁used ▁to ▁create ▁an ▁artificial ▁sp ider ' s ▁web . ▁Typ ically ▁this ▁sil k ▁is ▁produced ▁in ▁small ▁quantities ▁by ▁sp iders ▁but ▁with ▁the ▁gen etic ▁modification ▁of ▁the ▁go ats , ▁it ▁may ▁be ▁mass ▁produced . ▁The ▁go ats ▁are ▁easier ▁to ▁handle ▁in ▁large ▁groups ▁than ▁sp iders ▁and ▁thus ▁this ▁could ▁potentially ▁increase ▁the ▁efficiency ▁of ▁sil k ▁production ▁and ▁consumer ▁cost . ▁ ▁This ▁technology ▁is ▁also ▁being ▁used ▁to ▁make ▁bio - d ies el