Of all the exciting topics in the field of material and biochemical research, one of the hottest by far is unraveling the mysteries of spider silk.
Materials Science
Nov 30, 2020
0
22
A team of researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Keio University and Kyoto University, has found that liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) drives the process of converting spidroin proteins to ...
New biomaterials developed at the University of Bayreuth eliminate risk of infection and facilitate healing processes. A research team led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheibel has succeeded in combining these material properties ...
Materials Science
Aug 28, 2020
1
289
Protons are subatomic particles with a positive electric charge. Proton translocation plays a significant role in natural phenomena and manmade technologies. But it remains challenging to control proton conduction and fabrication ...
Spiders produce amazingly strong and lightweight threads called draglines that are made from silk proteins. Although they can be used to manufacture a number of useful materials, getting enough of the protein is difficult ...
Biochemistry
Jul 08, 2020
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1319
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 04, 2019
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33
Why are the lightweight silk threads of web spiders tougher than most other materials? Scientists from the Universities of Würzburg and Mainz teamed up to find answers to this question. They were able to show that the natural ...
Biochemistry
Sep 26, 2019
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12
Achieving strength and extensibility at the same time has so far been a great challenge in material engineering: increasing strength has meant losing extensibility and vice versa. Now Aalto University and VTT researchers ...
Materials Science
Sep 16, 2019
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31
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Slovenia has found a previously unknown protein in the strongest known spider web material. In their paper published in the journal Communications ...
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 02, 2019
0
149
