Silk of Spider and Bombyx mori: An Overview
Silk of Spider and Bombyx mori: An Overview
Hafiz Muhammad Tahir*, Palwasha Jabeen, Chand Raza, Shaukat Ali
ABSTRACT
Silk is harvested from spiders and silkworms throughout the world. Spider silk varies in types and functions according to the gland producing them. The silk in mulberry and non-mulberrys silkworms also varies from each other. Spidroin is the protein found in spider silk while silkworm silk is made up of an inner core of fibroin and outer layer of sericin protein. After the removal of sericin, silk is non-immunogenic and non-allergic. It is a renowned biomaterial due to its biocompatible nature. Silk proteins have been found to possess antibacterial properties and application in culturing tissues including skin, bone, cartilage and nerves. Sericin has been hailed to have antitumor activity and has also been widely used in different cosmetics. The major hindrance in using spider silk for different purposes is due to its small obtainable amount. Efforts are being made to overcome this problem by modern biotechnological techniques including of making transgenic organisms.
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December 2019
Vol. 34, Iss. 2, pp. 105-238
