Spider silk breakthrough: Tufts scientists' accidental Marvel

The character Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee in 1962, has become one of the most recognisable pop culture icons. The superhero, famous for his ability to swing across the city using spider webs, returned to popular consciousness thanks to films featuring Tom Holland, who portrays Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Previously, this character was popularised by Tobey Maguire in films from the early 2000s.

Although many considered the spider webs purely imaginary, researchers from Tufts University took on the challenge of transforming this fiction into reality. The team of scientists developed technology that enables shooting a liquid substance from a needle, which instantly turns into a solid fibre capable of adhering to surfaces and lifting objects.

Remarkably, this technology was not the result of a planned experiment. As Marco Lo Presti, an assistant professor at Tufts University, admitted, it all began by chance, during the cleaning of laboratory glassware.

I was working on a project to create exceptionally strong adhesives using silk fibroin. When I was cleaning the glass with acetone, I noticed that a material resembling a spider web started to form at the bottom of the vessel – recalls Lo Presti.

The mysterious fibres were based on fibroin, a protein derived from silkworm cocoons. The silkworm cocoons are boiled and then broken down into protein components, which can be transformed into strong fibres.

The process of creating these fibres is based on nature, which has long inspired scientists. Many animals, such as spiders, wasps, butterflies, and flies, produce silk at various stages of their lives. However, what has been achieved in the laboratory surpasses the natural abilities of animals.

One of the key elements of the technology was the use of a silk fibroin solution combined with dopamine and chitosan – a chemical compound obtained from insect shells. After adding a borate buffer, both the strength and adhesiveness of the fibres were enhanced. Ultimately, the created material can lift objects weighing more than 12 stone.

Although natural spider silk is still about 1000 times stronger than the artificial fibres developed by Lo Presti's team, the technology holds immense potential for development.

Unlike spiders, which need to physically contact surfaces to create their web, we demonstrate how a fibre can be shot from a device to adhere to surfaces and lift an object from a distance – explained Lo Presti.

Professor Fiorenzo Omenetto, director of the Silklab at Tufts University, emphasises that the inspiration for this technology came not only from nature but also from comics.

This discovery opens the door to new, advanced technologies that could have applications in various fields, from adhesive production to innovative methods of microchip manufacturing. Who knows, perhaps one day we will be able to use comic-book-inspired technologies in everyday life.