Spider silk consists of fiber-forming proteins, stored by the spider in a specialized gland. When the spider needs silk, for instance to build a web, it extrudes the silk proteins through a long duct in which they are exposed ...
Materials Science
Nov 4, 2019
0
33
Nature has evolved protein-based substances with mechanical properties that rival even the best synthetic materials. For example, pound for pound, spider silk is stronger and tougher than steel. But unlike steel, the natural ...
Materials Science
Apr 2, 2019
0
150
Spider silk is one of the toughest fibres in nature and has astounding properties. Scientists from the University of Würzburg discovered new molecular details of self-assembly of a spider silk fibre protein.
Materials Science
Dec 7, 2018
1
258
A team of researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology has developed a silk protein-based gel that they claim allows for skin healing without scarring. In their paper published in the journal Biomaterials ...
A group of scientists led by researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) have examined the soluble precursor of spider silk and found that a previously undiscovered structural element is key ...
Materials Science
May 29, 2018
0
64
A team of researchers with the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies and the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, both in Japan, has found a way to alter silkworm genes to create silk with useful proteins. ...
A large international collaboration has used a specialised technique on the infrared microspectroscopy (IRM) beamline at the Australian Synchrotron to determine the structure of proteins in individual silk fibres that has ...
Materials Science
Sep 20, 2017
0
143
Possibly the strongest hybrid silk fibers to date have been created by scientists in Sweden using all-renewable resources. Combining spider silk proteins with nanocellulose from wood, the process offers a low-cost and scalable ...
Nanomaterials
May 18, 2017
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17
Researchers at Tufts University's School of Engineering have developed a new bioinspired technique that transforms silk protein into complex materials that are easily programmable at the nano-, micro- and macro-scales as ...
Nanophysics
Feb 27, 2017
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18
Our muscles are amazing structures. With the trigger of a thought, muscle filaments slide past each other and bundles of contracting fibers pull on the bones moving our bodies. The triggered stretching behavior of muscle ...
Materials Science
Jan 31, 2017
0
210
