The special properties of spider silk and what science can learn from it

  • 4 years ago
Spider silk has been used by humans for thousands of years, and the combination of its strength and stretch is exactly why scientists have become obsessed with cloning it. It's tougher than Kevlar, more flexible than nylon and thinner than a single strand of human hair, making it one of the strongest materials in the world, biological or manmade. One type in particular, dragline silk, has been identified as a potential material to be used in the medicinal field in a variety of ways, including nerve repair.

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