Repairing Human Ligaments with Spider Silk

The spider's silk actually serves many purposes to a spider's life. Therefore, it is of vital essence to a spider, that without, a spider may not survive at all. A spider's silk is used for protecting the egg sacs of newly conceived spiders in the world. They are there to serve as protection to the baby spiders from external dangers such as predators that might devour the unborn spiderlings, or to prevent any environmental occurrences that may lead to the fatality of the spider eggs. Another purpose of spider's silk is for creating spider dwellings, such as spider's web. Orb webs are perfect examples of sufficiently protected spider dwellings. At the same time the orb webs are also being used to capture preys that may pass over it. This way, the spider is able to sustain its daily existence. These are just few of the many things a spider would use its web for. However, spiders are not the only ones that can benefit from the silk that they produce. According to recent researches, a spider's silk has been found to have certain elements in them that may be use for human cellular repair and regeneration.

Empirically, a spider's silk thread is the strongest natural fiber on earth. Virtually, if a spider's thread is woven altogether to a greater and denser silk thread, it can withstand as much 100 tons of weight. Now, with the recent studies and researches conducted on a spider's silk thread, they have discovered that there may be a way to use the strongest natural fiber on earth for medical purposes.

However, there is a present deterrent to the acquisition and the usage of spider's silk thread for such purposes. The fact the spiders produce only a relatively small amount of silk thread in their bodies only, there wouldn't be any sufficient mechanism to mass produce the material. The only way to mass produce it is to synthesize the material through laboratory fabrication. But that as well is still far flung since the unique components of the silk are rare to find. And because it is rare to find, the possibility of mass producing will prove to be practically almost impossible.

The Human Ligament

As most of us know, human flesh is basically composed of amino acids and protein. These are simply the building blocks of life, and that would include as well the physical properties of the human body. Starting from the microscopic cells to the entire muscular structure, they are all composed amino acids and protein. This is the very reason as well why body builders would need the necessary intake of protein supplements in their entire routine system. Muscular development simply depends on the protein intake of an individual.

The same idea applies to cell regeneration after injuries. When a flesh or a muscle is torn, many of its components are also damaged. These components would include tendons, capillaries and ligaments. In order to regenerate these damaged tissues, protein is imperatively needed. An injured athlete would have to take the necessary dosage of protein for a faster cellular recovery. Along of course with, the proper medical treatments applied by a medical practitioner. This very essential component is found of abundant proportions in spider's silk.

Spider's Silk as a Cure

Believe it or not, a spider's silk is actually capable of curing a lot of wound problems in the human body. Scientists were able to discover a body of old folklore dating way back 2,000 years ago that elaborates on how spider's silk could actually serve as a medicine for combating infections, bleeding, and regenerating open wounds. A molecular biologist in the University of Wyoming, Randolph Lewis, discusses furthermore about the specific applications of the spider silk on human injuries. Shakespeare anecdotes even quotes about spider's web as a treatment to certain human conditions. Lines in the composition "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" wherein there is a line noted "Good Master Cobweb: If I cut my finger, I shall make bold with you".

However, the much more recently conducted researches indicate that there are no known components of a spider's web that can actually kill bacteria and germs. Furthermore, scientists explained that in the general studies of animals, it revealed that the spider silk triggers less immunity reactions, thus rejecting most of the medical implants that were conducted.

Nevertheless, scientists continued to develop synthesizing and spinning spider silk threads in order to find hope in using it as a medical treatment. Fortunately, eventually their efforts have paid off when they revealed that the spider silk threads could actually be used as scaffolds for damaged tissues in order for it to effectively regenerate. Knowing these, therefore, the use of spider silks can be applied to world's most common muscular injuries such as sprains and muscle pains. They have further deduced the spider silk threads could actually be used as artificial tendons which should be a very good thing to a lot of individuals whom have experienced permanent muscular damage in their bodies.

Scientists have also further researched and developed the use of spider silks to apply them as suture threads to close up surgical openings and wounds. This would definitely prove efficient especially when doctors would have certain patients who don't like surgical scars afterward.

As of this moment scientists are already in a very of breakthrough in terms of innovating the spider's silk into something that can be medically useful and pretty soon, they will be able to find a way to fully apply the extent of the silk's usefulness. It won't be long when doctors would already be using spider's silk as surgical sutures and also, tendons and ligaments damage recuperation.

Furthermore, they are also continuously looking for ways to mass produce the silk material. Recently, they have tried out making use of alfalfa and certain proteins in goat milk in order to synthesize the natural material. Alongside, with that are the considerations of genetically cultivating the spider silk in laboratories by using the necessary proteins needed to create it.