Scientists develop gel made from spider silk proteins for biomedical applications

Sweden: Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have discovered that spider silk proteins can be fused to biologically active proteins and be converted into a gel at body temperature.

One of the goals is to develop an injectable protein solution that forms a gel inside the body, which could be used in tissue engineering and for drug release, but also make gels that can streamline chemical processes where enzymes are used. The study is published in Nature Communications.