Silken Engineering at Tufts

Silkworms

Edited from a New England Council report

Tufts University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering is pursuing new projects in its Silklab.

“With the help of silkworms, the lab is developing various materials to be integrated into traditional clothing, surgical implants and other novel applications.

“The researchers are also developing a underwater adhesive for shark tagging, and small drones that can detect COVID-19 in the environment.

“‘I think that the directions we pick are the most surprising, which means that they open up something fundamental, something that you’ve never seen on the surface before, versus something that could have a high impact, like early detection of breast cancer,’ said Fiorenzo Omenetto, the director of the Silklab.

“‘I think it’s nice to connect the unconnectable, so there’s maybe the magic of trying to bring what was biological into the technical world.’

“Silklab has also helped develop startups that work in silk innovation, including Sofregen, which uses silk to repair damaged vocal cords, and Vaxess, which develops silk microneedles for vaccine delivery.’’