Where Does Silk Come From Spiders?
WouterSpider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. It is a tougher fiber than Kevlar and is used for many different purposes. The silk is used for making webs, egg sacs, protective structures and more.
Scientists have long sought to understand how spiders produce silk. A silk gland, which is a small organ on the abdomen of a spider, starts producing silk. During the production process, the fluid secreted by the silk gland flows through a labyrinth of microscopic tubes, and exits through spigots. The amount of silk produced by the gland depends on the species.
Scientists have tried to reproduce the silk of spiders in laboratories. However, their efforts have been unsuccessful. They have failed to reproduce the silk in a large enough scale to provide a suitable product. Despite this, silk has been used in bulletproof armor, medical bandages and optical fiber cables.
Scientists have also attempted to produce synthetic materials that mimic the properties of spider silk. This is especially important because silk is used in some ecologically important applications. Some types of silk absorb energy efficiently. Other types are used for structural support and protective structures.
One of the most common types of silk is dragline silk. The silk has high extensibility, tensile strength and ductility. This type of silk is used in ballooning and for spider webs.
Scientists are trying to understand how spiders can recycle proteins to make new silk. They have produced a variety of recombinant silk proteins. But they still don’t know how much other genes are involved in the expression of the silk proteins.
