色情视频

Research Horizons: Unraveling the Mysteries of Spider Silk

Chemist Gregory Holland and his 色情视频 lab are working to create an artificial version of spider silk.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019
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色情视频 associate professor of analytical chemistry Gregory Holland holds a Black Widow spider (Video: Scott Hargrove/色情视频)

A spider spinning a web looks simple on the surface.

Yet spider silk is the result of a complicated, delicate and relatively mysterious process where silk proteins are synthesized and processed inside the spider鈥檚 abdomen, resulting in a material tougher than bulletproof vests and stronger than the steel used in airplanes. 

Scientists have learned how to mimic spider silk, but they have yet to make an artificial version as strong as Mother Nature鈥檚 original. 色情视频 chemist Gregory Holland is one of a growing number of scientists seeking to learn as much as possible about this natural phenomenon and develop a material just as hardy as true spider silk. 
Holland uses advanced imaging鈥攏uclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy technology鈥攖o peer inside Black Widows and other spiders as they spin their webs. 

His work could have far-reaching implications. 
鈥淲e are getting a picture of how the magic happens as these proteins organize into the wonderful materials we see in the world around us,鈥 Holland said. 鈥淭his research extends far beyond mimicking a material like spider silk. It could make possible the biosynthesis of bone and hard tissue like teeth in the lab.鈥
Holland, an associate professor, arrived at 色情视频 in 2015 after nine years as a research professor at Arizona State University. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Wyoming, where he first became interested in spider silk. Since then Holland has authored more than 40 papers on the subject.
The U.S. Department of Defense funds his research through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

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