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Silk

  • Chapter
Protein-Based Materials

Part of the book series: Bioengineering of Materials ((BOM))

Abstract

A number of recent reviews and books on silkworm and spider silks have been published and the historical aspects of the field are reviewed therein (Livengood, 1990; Robson, 1985; Asakura and Kaplan, 1995; Kaplan et al., 1991, 1992b, 1994). Silks can be defined as externally spun fibrous protein secretions. Of the natural fibers, silks represent the only ones that are spun by the producing organism. These fibers are remarkable materials when considering their biosynthesis, processing, and functional properties. These proteins are produced within specialized glands by a variety of organisms including silkworms (and most other lepidoptera larvae), spiders, scorpions, mites, and flies. Silks differ in properties, composition, and morphology depending on the source, and in many spiders different silks are synthesized for different functions.

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Authors
  1. David L. Kaplan
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  2. Charlene M. Mello
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  3. Steve Arcidiacono
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  4. Steve Fossey
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  5. Kris Senecal
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  6. Wayne Muller
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RD & E Center, U.S. Army Natick, 01760-5020, Natick, MA, USA

    Kevin McGrath

  2. Biotechnology Center Department of Chemical Engineering, Tufts University, 02155, Medford, MA, USA

    David Kaplan

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Kaplan, D.L., Mello, C.M., Arcidiacono, S., Fossey, S., Senecal, K., Muller, W. (1997). Silk. In: McGrath, K., Kaplan, D. (eds) Protein-Based Materials. Bioengineering of Materials. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4094-5_4

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