PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD
PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP FOR A BETTER WORLD The Silk Road was one of the most historically important trading routes in the world, and the trade of silk fibers for textiles was lucrative. Silk is often used in suturing, but the versatile material is worming its way into other areas of the medical field. Silk doesn’t seem to provoke a response by the immune system, and the fibers, while prized for their soft texture, have incredible strength. The applications for silk in medicine are far-reaching and fascinating.
Dr. David
Kaplan and Dr. Fiorenzo Omenetto reported in Science journal: “Silk-based materials have been transformed in
just the decade from the commodity textile world to a growing web of
applications in more high technology directions.” What might these include? In
addition to photonics, optics and electronic applications, silk can be used to
engineer ligaments and bones. The fibers can be used to provide a repair
structure for muscles, bone, cartilage and tendons. Drs. Kaplan and Omenetto
are experimenting with using silk-based displays for medical sensors so doctors
may be able to monitor blood oxygen levels and glucose sensors to monitor
diabetics’ blood sugar levels.
Researchers
at Tufts University are experimenting with growing cervical tissue, while a
team in Australia is working on silk repair structures to hopefully treat
perforated eardrums. Oregon scientists have seen that silk scaffolds can reduce
seizure activity in rats. Eventually, silk may be able to attach tiny
electrodes to the surface of the brain to treat epileptic patients.
The problem is that silkworms and spiders don’t
produce enough of the versatile fibers to meet the medical demands. To combat
this, researchers are working on ways to extract silk from goat milk and to
grow “spider” silk from plants. If successful, this technology has a broad
range of applications that could help millions of people,
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