Arach-Nouveau: Re-Engineering Spider Silk for Textiles

If you cringed after reading this article title, you are not alone. Spiders’ signature eight legs, sticky webs, and dropin mentality don’t endear them to everyone. However, beyond the innate fear factor that they conjure in some, spiders have fascinating capabilities and a presence in ecosystems across our planet. Over the last 380 million years, arachnids have evolved to produce on-demand super-fibers, whose properties we as humans have yet to perfectly emulate. Yet, they continue to inspire many in the textile industry to keep trying, through some very innovative methods.