Scientists create strands of spider silk implants
Professor Fritz Vollrath keeps spiders in the luxurious rooms on the roof of the University of Oxford. Tens chubby weavers cover the ceiling in a converted greenhouse, basking in the tropical humidity and lush foliage.
After 40 years of work with spiders, a native of Germany, the zoologist knows all about your child. Spiders create paintings, highlighting liquid protein. The network is like silk but stronger than steel and very flexible. Highly efficient process requires little energy, and many spiders develop a fresh web every day.
Vollrath mission is to create using the spider thread silk implants that can be implanted in the human body.
Vollrath published his first work in 1976, in which he described the unique properties and function of spider webs. He studied spiders around the world including spent an extended period in Panama and Papua New Guinea, exploring the exotic breed with rare qualities. "I spent a lot of time just sitting in a chair in the woods, watching the spiders do their thing, to understand their behavior," he says. "If you found an interesting specimen with unusual silk, you can dissect a spider to see how silk gland and spun silk." Fritz worked closely with the architects to design the building based on paintings and even a net for catching space debris.
In Ancient Greece, treated wounds, wiping them with a web, believing that it prevents blood loss and infection. Vollrath took note of this information and created a bandage out of spider silk. Later, he tested them on animals and found that they are easy to mix with the tissue of the host.
"Spider silk in nature biocompatible so the wound does not reject it," said the Professor. Silk is so biodegradable that dissolves and the wound heals ".
Now spider silk is widely used for medical purposes. Silk material used for sutures, scaffolds, implants and biomedical implants.
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