Surprising strength of silkworm silk.
Commercial silkworm silk is presumed to be much weaker and less extensible than spider dragline silk, which has been hailed as a 'super-fibre'. But we show here that the mechanical properties of silkworm silks can approach those of spider dragline silk when reeled under controlled conditions. We suggest that silkworms might be able to produce threads that compare well with spider silk by changing their spinning habits, rather than by having their silk genes altered.
Department of Macromolecular Science and Key Laboratory of Polymer Engineering of Education Ministry, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. zzshao@fudan.edu.cn
Zhengzhong
Z
Shao
Fritz
F
Vollrath
D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D012831:Bombyx / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D047011:Silk; D013112:Spiders / Q000502:physiology; D013718:Tensile Strength; D013997:Time Factors
D019476:Insect Proteins; D047011:Silk