Spiderwebs can be unsightly, but there are a couple of reasons why these natural wonders are pretty important if you want ...

The bold question-askers at What If uncover how spider silk might be engineered to create next-generation bulletproof skin.

Spider webs, though thin, are extremely strong. Certain types of spider silk have a tensile strength comparable to, or slightly less than, steel of the same weight.

By simulating spider silk in a computational model, the team discovered the stretching process aligns the protein chains within the fibers and increases the number of bonds between those chains.

Understanding how the stretching process strengthens spider silk is a key part of helping design stronger, biodegradable, silk-inspired materials for various applications. When spiders spin their webs ...

Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has developed transgenic silkworms to produce spider silk in commercial quantities.

Study shows spider silk bioproduction presents opportunities and challenges by Michelle Franklin, University of California - San Diego Editors' notes ...

Considering how tiny the threads are, spider silk is as strong as steel yet almost as stretchy as a rubber band, that’s a crazy combination.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider Inspired a Microphone If spiders use their webs like a large external eardrum, researchers reasoned, perhaps spider silk could be the basis for a powerful listening device.

Now, researchers have successfully gene-edited silkworms to produce spider silk that’s six times stronger than Kevlar, the material used in bulletproof vests.