How spiders’ webs help nerves regrow

SPIDERS’ silk is being tested as a way to repair damaged nerves. Large nerve injuries of more than 5cm are hard to knit together with current techniques — but spider’s silk is showing promise.

The web of the golden orb spider, from Tanzania, is more tear-resistant than nylon and has antibacterial properties. The idea is to use it as a trellis: the nerve fibres stick to the spiders’ silk and grow along it.

So far, tests at the Medical University of Hannover, in Germany, have been carried out on animals. Work is under way to register the silk as a medical device so it can be tested on humans.