http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/03/01/scientists_unravel_the_mysterious_mechanics_of_spider_silk.html
Summary
A study by Cell Press looked into exactly what spider silk thread is. Spider silk is known to have strength like steel, toughness like kevlar, and density much less that our materials in use already. Being such an amazing material, in was inevitable that people would want to know how to reproduce it. The study looked into the exact atomic makeup of the two building blocks of spider silk, soft amorphous, and hard crystalline materials. The researchers were able to recreate the thread, using several different patterns to find the one most useful and similar to actual spider silk.
Opinion
This was a good article that outlined a good idea. If humans are able to take something out of nature and recreate it, and have it be better that something artificial, that will benefit us to no end. Not only would it work better that synthetic material, but it would be more environmentally friendly, and possibly more cost effective. The scientists that completed this study had to make the silk from the ground up, starting with the atomic components and building from that. If a process could be developed in which spider silk, or any similar substance, could be mass produced in a lab setting, it could change the way things are made for the better
~Will Hart
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