Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Increases R&D Capacity, as Project Atlas Breakthroughs Creating New Spider Silk Transgenics
Rhea-AI Summary
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories (OTCQB: KBLB) expanded its R&D capacity for Project Atlas on March 23, 2026, roughly tripling screening throughput and adding staff and advanced equipment.
The upgrades automate testing workflows, strengthen analytical assays, increase parallel transgenic line evaluation, and aim to shorten development timelines and accelerate selection of production candidates.
Positive
- Screening throughput tripled, enabling far higher sample processing rates
- New advanced equipment and automation increased parallel transgenic evaluation
- Enhanced analytical testing provides deeper insight into expression and functional impact
- Shorter development timelines expected through faster identification of production candidates
- Increased public visibility after a March 2026 National Geographic cover feature
Negative
- No financial metrics, budget figures, or commercial timeline disclosed for the R&D expansion
News Market Reaction – KBLB
On the day this news was published, KBLB gained 3.45%, reflecting a moderate positive market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB: KBLB) ("the Company", "Kraig Labs", or "Kraig's"), a world leader in spider silk technology*, today announced a significant expansion of its research and development capacity designed to keep pace with rapid progress of its advanced materials initiative, Project Atlas.
The Company has expanded its laboratory capabilities, onboarding new scientific personnel and the deployment of new advanced equipment. These improvements have roughly tripled screening throughput, allowing the R&D team to keep up with the rapid development of new transgenics.
Kraig Labs implemented these upgrades in direct response to the rapid technical progress made under Project Atlas. Atlas is the Company's next-generation recombinant spider silk program focused on creating advanced biomaterials with potential industrial and defense applications.
The recently commissioned equipment streamlines the screening of newly created transgenic lines and the analysis of their resulting spider silk expression levels. Project Atlas is now generating significant numbers of transgenics and potential candidates for new production materials. This expanded screening capacity was needed to keep pace with the rate of new transgenic creation, which is now at the highest levels in the Company's history. By automating portions of the testing workflow, Kraig Labs can now rapidly process and evaluate significantly more samples, quickly identifying new, exciting transgenics.
In addition to the increased screening capacity, Kraig Labs also strengthened its analytical testing capabilities. These tools provide deeper insight into the expression levels and functional impact of each engineered transgenic line. This enhanced visibility allows the research team to identify the most promising genetic designs and prioritize them for advancement into the Company's production pipeline.
"With the pace of discovery we are seeing in Project Atlas, it became clear that we needed to expand our screening and analysis capacity to keep up with the speed of innovation," said Kim Thompson, Founder and CEO of Kraig Labs. "This investment in staff and technology further strengthens our position as a leader in advanced biomaterials. We believe we have a wide lead on our competitors, and it is the goal of this investment to expand that lead further."
Dr. Zhang, the Company's Chief Scientist, emphasized the impact these upgrades will have on the research pipeline.
"Project Atlas involves the creation and evaluation of numerous complex genetic constructs designed to work together to produce highly specialized silk proteins," said Dr. Zhang. "The expansion of our testing infrastructure dramatically increases our testing capacity to match the increased pace of transgenic creation. We can now analyze many more transgenic lines in parallel and better quantify how each genetic insert is performing. This level of screening power is essential for isolating the highest-performing lines and rapidly advancing them into production."
By significantly increasing screening capacity and analytical insight, Kraig Labs expects to shorten development timelines and improve its ability to identify breakthrough material candidates.
The Company leadership in bioengineering was recently spotlighted on the cover of the March 2026 issue of National Geographic, highlighting the growing importance and predominance of its work scaling spider silk production.
Interested persons can order a copy of National Geographic featuring Kraig Labs at https://ngsingleissues.nationalgeographic.com/natgeo-march-2026.
You can purchase a digital copy of the article directly from National Geographic at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/spider-silk-silkworm-genetic-engineering
For the latest updates on Kraig Labs and its pioneering spider silk technologies, visit www.kraiglabs.com.
For details about recent Kraig Labs advancements, please watch the Company's investor updates at www.kraiglabs.com/videos or on the Company's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@kraigbiocraftlaboratories2270.
To view the most recent news from Kraig Labs and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to www.KraigLabs.com/news
* For a description of our historical leadership in this technology, please follow this link https://www.kraiglabs.com/world-leader/
Kraig Labs Technology is built on a scientifically engineered silkworm, which incorporates key spider silk proteins to produce recombinant spider silk.
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, Inc.
(720) 288-8495
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/069703da-8094-422d-9874-249b0810916a
FAQ
What capacity increase did Kraig Biocraft (KBLB) announce on March 23, 2026?
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What technical improvements did Kraig Biocraft (KBLB) add to support Project Atlas?
Does Kraig Biocraft (KBLB) provide commercialization or financial details for the R&D expansion?
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