From ABC Science Online, News in Science, 18 November 2008:
Silkworms and spiders could hold the key to engineering healthy bone tissue to replace damaged bone and teeth, according to a US biomedical engineer.
Speaking at the Australian Health and Medical Research Congress in Brisbane, Professor David Kaplan from Tufts University in Massachusetts says spider and silkworm silks are among the strongest natural fibres in existence, and have incredible properties.
“When you look at the mechanical properties of single fibre silks, they are remarkable in terms of tension and compression,” says Kaplan.
Silk has the added advantage of being bio-compatible, so it can be used in humans. He says it has already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in early human clinical trials. Read more.
Skip to content
freelance science journalist and author
Bianca Nogrady
%d bloggers like this:
