Open AccessProduction and processing of spider silk proteins
Author(s) -
Hardy John G.,
Scheibel Thomas R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of polymer science part a: polymer chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.768
H-Index - 152
eISSN - 1099-0518
pISSN - 0887-624X
DOI - 10.1002/pola.23484
Subject(s) - spider silk , polymer science , silk , spider , biocompatible material , materials science , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , composite material , engineering , ecology , biology , biomedical engineering
Natural spider silk fibers have impressive mechanical properties (outperforming many man‐made fibers) and are, moreover, biocompatible, biodegradable, and produced under benign conditions (using water as a solvent at ambient temperature). The problems associated with harvesting natural spider silks inspired us to devise a method to produce spider silk‐like proteins biotechnologically (the first subject tackled in this highlight); we subsequently discuss their processing into various materials morphologies, and some potential technical and biomedical applications. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3957–3963, 2009