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  • Spider silk + silica =

    a super strong nano-material;

    Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.

    Researchers have created a novel nanomaterial that combines the strength of spider silk with the rigidity of silica. The product could help pave the way for the fabrication of replacement bones.

    Regrowing bone requires a scaffold that is stiff, long-lasting and safe. With that in mind, David Kaplan of Tufts University and his colleagues decided to marry the protein that constitutes the drag lines of golden silk orb weaver spiders with the protein that helps diatoms--a subset of plankton--make silica, a glasslike compound. The spider-silk protein alone "just doesn't have the stiffness you want, that's why you need the glass," Kaplan says.

    After splicing the two proteins together, the team then processed the resulting chimeric protein into both films and fibers and tested the result. As hoped, the films and fibers created dense silica coatings for themselves. By using electric current or varying conditions, the researchers could also control the size and shape of the resulting materials. "We were able to control and bring it down to two microns [wide]," adds team member Cheryl Wong Po Foo of Tufts. "We're going into the nanoscale range."

    Initial tests of the nanomaterial's medical potential is being conducted in vitro, but the researchers hope to try it out in animals in the near future, using it to help guide the growth of a hip replacement, for example. The possibilities do not end there, however. The chimeric protein forms this material at low temperatures and without chemicals other than water. Current industrial practices for making silica require high heat and ionic extremes. "You can think of high performance materials made via an aqueous, room temperature, green chemistry," Kaplan notes.

    The research is being published online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. --David Biello
    Dr. Mordrid
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

  • #2
    Very cool. Scientists have been trying to harness the strength of spider webs for ages. It's good to know they've finally been able to succeed in some respects.
    “Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get out”
    –The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett

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    • #3
      Cool. People who don't keep up with science developments forget that nature has had millions of years to come up with this stuff and improve on it. So much we can still use and learn from out there that's just happening naturally.
      Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra 9, Opteron 170 Denmark 2x2Ghz, 2 GB Corsair XMS, Gigabyte 6600, Gentoo Linux
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      "if I said you had a beautiful body would you take your pants off and dance around a bit?" --Zapp Brannigan

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      • #4
        Very cool.
        “And, remember: there's no 'I' in 'irony'” ~ Merlin Mann

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        • #5
          very cool. They've been talking about using spider silk as a replacement for kevlar since at LEAST 1994. Did anything ever come of that?
          Wikipedia and Google.... the needles to my tangent habit.
          ________________________________________________

          That special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, Or maybe below the cockles, Maybe in the sub-cockle area, Maybe in the liver, Maybe in the kidneys, Maybe even in the colon, We don't know.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Claymonkey
            very cool. They've been talking about using spider silk as a replacement for kevlar since at LEAST 1994. Did anything ever come of that?
            Last I heard they were still having problems synthesizing spider silk. It takes too long for spiders to naturally produce the silk, and it's had to harvest and process, so they don't think it will happen until they can synthesize. Or at least, troubles with mass synthesis.
            “Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get out”
            –The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett

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            • #7
              Spider silk sutures;

              Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.


              Self assembling spider silk fibers;



              Dr. Mordrid
              Dr. Mordrid
              ----------------------------
              An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

              I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Jammrock
                Last I heard they were still having problems synthesizing spider silk. It takes too long for spiders to naturally produce the silk, and it's had to harvest and process, so they don't think it will happen until they can synthesize. Or at least, troubles with mass synthesis.
                You are running behind... They can produce spider silk using altered mammals:
                Explore National Geographic. A world leader in geography, cartography and exploration.

                Goats are apparently best suited for this.

                If I remember correctly, China had experiments where they altered silk worms to produce spider silk.


                Jörg
                pixar
                Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

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