Spider silk implant mends broken bones

SPIDER silk could help speed up the healing of fractured bones, say scientists at the University of Connecticut.

They have developed a new material which is a combination of spider silk protein and polylactic acid, a type of plastic that’s safe to use in the body. Laboratory tests found the material was resilient and strong enough to be used in healing bones and more studies are planned to see how well it integrates into the body and attaches to the body’s cells. Once the bone has fully healed, the silk biodegrades, reported the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials.