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Spider strength and stretchability

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Spider dragline silk is an incredibly tough elastomer, but it is also very elastic. Recent work has demonstrated how the mechanical properties of spider silk and other natural elastomers can be mimicked to produce artificial protein-based fibers with great potential for industrial applications.

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Figure 1: Hierarchical arrangement and mechanical properties of natural and recombinant elastomers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wolfgang A. Linke is in the Department of Cardiovascular Physiology, Institute of Physiology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.,

    Wolfgang A Linke

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  1. Wolfgang A Linke
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Correspondence to Wolfgang A Linke.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Linke, W. Spider strength and stretchability. Nat Chem Biol 6, 702–703 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.442

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