The Nature's web

The spider silk has been in news recently- the fibre being 5 times stronger than steel, apart from being malleable and ductile.Some of the interesting facts about the web proteins are:

• The spider eats its own web and recycles it for forming new, sticky webs
• The alignment of  two simple amino acids glycine and alanine are found to be responsible for the unusual mechanical properties.
• Bioengineers at Tufts University have created a new fusion protein that for the first time combines the toughness of spider silk with the intricate structure of silica. The resulting nanocomposite could be used in medical and industrial applications, such as growing bone tissue.( http://www.physorg.com/news70608222.html)
• Silkworms were genetically engineered to produce a hybrid of silkworm silk and artificial spider silk. ( http://www.kraiglabs.com/Spider-silk-created-9-29-2010.htm)
• Depositing metal ions using atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto spider silk yields a toughe and break- resistant material ( Lee 2009) 

Why this post on spider silk now? Well, it is not just the web..... A lot of similar instances where nature's simple  creations can put our latest technologies to shame.A whole branch of study is dedicated to this aspect. BIOMIMETICS...Inspirations drawn from the nature leading to the design of new products and processes...They range from artificially synthesized vitamins to nanorobotic antibodies that can hunt down bacteria. Seems nature has the ultimate word.....