We’re one step closer to making synthetic spider silk, thanks to work by researchers in Germany.

Sebastian Rammensee and colleagues have constructed a microfluidic device which combines two spider silk proteins into fibers.

“The major breakthrough is that this is the first time one has produced fully synthetic silk threads and understood why,” says Andreas Bausch, co-author on a new paper describing the device in PNAS (quoted in the Daily Telegraph).

The Independent gets excited about all the things we could make with super-synthetic-silk: “from bullet-proof vests and lightweight material for parachutes, to extremely strong ropes and fishing nets that will decompose quickly if lost at sea” or even “biodegradable sutures for sealing up internal wounds”.

The research team believe three stages are needed for fibers to form. The proteins must condense into spherical particles; pH must drop; and then particles must be forced to slide past each other in a thin chamber.

Both New Scientist and Scientific American go into the technical details.

Image: Corbis