What do synthetic silk and cobwebs have in common? It turns out a lot. Researchers combined these two materials to create an unusual dressing. Its purpose is to speed up wound healing, relieve pain and even carry certain medications.
Cobweb is an extremely strong material. Work on creating a fiber that would be as strong as it and could be used in medicine has been going on for a long time.
A researcher from the University of Nottingham worked for five years on synthetic silk, a product that would have all the features of a spider web and at the same time fulfill the functions of a dressing. To create such material, the British used … Escherichia coli bacteria, which changed DNA so that it was similar to that of arachnids.
From these changed pathogens, synthetic silk fibers were created, which are as strong as a real spider’s web, but more flexible than it.
Why is synthetic silk better than regular dressings? First of all, it has a bactericidal effect, and is also biodegradable and completely safe for the human body. Secondly, it does not cause inflammation or allergic reactions. Third, it speeds up wound healing. With its help, drugs can also be “transferred” so that the pharmaceutical goes directly to the damaged area.
The new material has been created so that it can be easily enriched with new ingredients, useful for faster regeneration of damaged areas and stimulating the reconstruction of damaged tissues.
Rayon dressings can be used to fight pain. The painkiller administered with their help can reach the most painful area almost immediately and gradually release its effect. According to scientists, in this way it will be possible to treat, for example, people with the so-called diabetic foot.