This is the name given to a new type of goat specially bred by scientists in the USA. They are just like goats to look at, but they have a special gene that allows people to make silk from the proteins in their milk, and are expected to play a big part in silk production in the future.

Work on these goats began in Wyoming some years ago, but it's becoming internationally known now. A recent BBC Horizon program explained the science in a way possible for non-scientist viewers to understand. It seems that the spider goats are just the beginning: now gene technology is really taking off, we can expect to see even stranger experiments and hybrids.

Of course when you hear this it sounds like a science fiction nightmare - makes Dr Moreau sound quite tame, doesn't it? - but it's hard to argue that this is so different from what farmers and gardeners have been doing for hundreds, even thousands of years. Time will show!