This changes things...

I heard back from SLU this morning. I will not be able to have any of the dope for my project. They only make enough material for their own experiments, and shipping it would be difficult as the solution will aggregate at room temperature.

One thing that she did point out is that the silk is polymerized primarily through being pulled through the spinneret organ, not extruded. My thought was that an air pressure pushing the protein solution through the pH gradient would have the same effect, but sounds like not.(?) She did point out that I was on to something though. It would matter what gas was being used as pressure, because I knew that CO₂ would have an effect on the C-Terminal domain, so it would have to be an inert gas.

So, this changes things:

I won't be able to make a working, tested prototype. I can create a similar setup as SLU, or make a new design for manufacturing based on that. (that won't even do anything! Ugh.)

or

I can look into my original thought more, with the new information, and revise the design. (which STILL won't do anything.)

or

I can abandon the idea of building something and simply write a long research paper (boring).

What to do...?

- Noah