THEY'RE big, hairy and will leave phobics quaking but for Dr Sara Goodacre and her researchers these tarantulas are a big fascination.

They are the latest recruits to the University of Nottingham's Spider Lab and include the Goliath Bird Eater – the biggest of all tarantulas which can grow to 12 inches – and an aggressive Tanzanian Orange Baboon tarantula.

Geneticist Dr Goodacre is helping to oversee the tarantula project of PhD student Jonathan Bull, who is researching the evolution of silk spun by the creatures from South America and Africa.

Biologists already know tarantulas use the silk to line their burrows, to protect their eggs and as part of mating rituals but unlike some spiders they do not use it as a Tarzan-like means of escape.

Dr Goodacre said: "Spiders have spinners on their abdomen where the silk comes from but tarantulas do a very cool thing. They're the only group that ooze silk from their feet. It's sticky so they can walk up smooth surfaces – you'd never have a tarantula trapped in your bath!"

But what scientists round the world are desperate to unravel is how spiders spin liquid protein into fibres, with the unique combination of strength and elasticity.

Understanding this could have huge implications for creating a similar man-made material in the future.

"Discoveries along this route are likely to be some way away," said Dr Goodacre.

The spider lab is also home to less daunting arachnids, At the other end of the scale are tiny orb weavers and money spiders.

Dr Goodacre is delving into the inner working of spiders, using their DNA to explore their genetics and how they have adapted over thousands of years.

Other members of the Nottingham research team are exploring the evolution of spiders on islands in the tranquil waters at Attenborough Nature Reserve, the effects of pesticides on money spiders and why one species, which is predominantly female, has not died out.

The lab has just acquired a miniature wind tunnel to investigate why spiders take off even though 'flying' is risky.

Dr Goodacre, who established the Spider Lab two years ago, said: "It is assumed we know so much – we've been to the moon but we don't yet fully understand how the spider turns liquid protein into silk.

"Spiders are sometimes overlooked in scientific terms yet they lead such fascinating lives.

"There are not many researchers working with spiders compared to moths or fruit flies. I don't know why because there is such a lot to discover."

Alex Hyde, a former masters biological photography student, has been taking amazing close-up images of the tarantulas and other spiders to help researchers understand the bio-mechanics, such as how they jump and 'fly'.

Lab successes so far include developing spider paternity tests to work out why females mate with particular males, finding out why spiders 'fly' using the wind to catch a silken sail and looking at the genetics of endangered raft spiders.

But however much Dr Goodacre is intrigued by eight-legged creepy crawlies, her two-year-old son Tomas, does not share her fascination.

"They don't have wheels or an engine so he's not interested. I point out snails and spiders to him but he shouts out 'bus' when the number 36 goes past."

lynette.pinchess@ nottinghameveningpost.co.uk