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Super-strength spider silk made by bacteria

New bacteria engineered to produce fibre as tough as steel.

lots of fibres between two rods
The 128-repeat proteins resulted in a fiber with gigapascal strength which is stronger than common steel. The fibers’ toughness is higher than Kevlar and all previous recombinant silk fibers. Its strength and toughness are even higher than some reported natural spider silk fibers. Credit: Washington University in St. Louis/Jingyao Li