蜘蛛丝:从天然到生物启发的材料

Spider silk:from nature to bio-inspired materials

蜘蛛丝是极坚韧的蛋白质纤维,兼有极好的强度和弹性。但主要由于大多数蜘蛛的同类相食性,工业规模养殖蜘蛛是不可行的。重组生产技术的最新进展为生产与天然蜘蛛丝性质相似的仿蜘蛛丝蛋白质提供了可能性。根据天然纤维纺丝过程的机理,预计在不久的将来,仿生方法将大规模生产这种令人神往的纤维状材料,满足各种用途。

Spider silks are extremely tough protein fibers with a unique combination of strength and elasticity. Unfortunately, industrial scale farming of spiders is not feasible, mainly due to the cannibalistic nature of most spiders. Recent progress in establishing recombinant production techniques opens up the possibility to produce spider silk-like proteins with properties similar to those found in nature. Upon unraveling mechanistic details of the natural fiber spinning process, in the near future biomimetic approaches are envisioned to produce this fascinating fibrous material on a large scale for various applications.