Chinese scientists say their silkworms beat spider fibre for strength
- New process creates silk that is 70 per cent tougher than the stronger-than-steel version spun by spiders, researchers say
- It can be used for clothing, surgical stitches and other medical devices, according to team in China
Chinese scientists say they have developed a way to manually spin silk from silkworms to make it 70 per cent tougher than the strongest silk spun by spiders.
The researchers said their “artificial superstrong silkworm silk” is safe and durable for use in surgical stitches, scaffolds for bone and tendon regeneration, mesh or films for delivering medicines, as well as for producing lightweight clothing.
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China has a long history of farming silkworms for textile production. Their silk is much weaker than spider silk, especially dragline silk, which the arachnids use to build webs and as a lifeline when they hang in mid-air.
Spider silk is five times stronger than steel. But unlike silkworms, spiders are too aggressive and territorial to be farmed, according to the research team.
Some scientists have genetically engineered silkworms with spider DNA, but this is expensive and difficult to scale.
In the new study, the Chinese team used common silkworms, which are easily obtained from farms, to create silk fibres that surpass natural spider silks in strength and stiffness.
