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Articles on Spider silk

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Spider glue is actually a specialized silk protein. Sarah Stellwagen

Spider glue’s sticky secret revealed by new genetic research

The glue that gives spider webs their stickiness is a form of spider silk protein. Researchers can imagine cool uses for a synthetic version – but had to wait for the tricky glue gene to be sequenced.
There’s a very good reason for those leg hairs. Flickr/Hamish Irvine

Curious Kids: why do spiders have hairy legs?

Believe it or not, I have studied the hairy legs of spiders for years and can give you some definitive answers on this.
If it’s good enough for a spider, why can’t we make such strong silk? Flickr/Petra Bensted

Why we can’t spin a silken yarn as strong as a spider can

Spider silk is strong stuff and could be used to manufacture ultra tough ropes and cables, and better sutures in medicine. If only we could find a way to make the stuff.

Nanotube-coated spider silk: the new material in electronics?

Spider silk coated in nano-tubing could become a new material used in everyday electronics. Known as the the toughest material…

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