VATIS UPDATE Article

Researchers at the University of Cambridge, the United Kingdom, have helped to make microscopic versions of the cocoons spun by silkworms to store sensitive proteins technology which could be used in pharmaceuticals to treat a range of debilitating illnesses. The tiny capsules, which are invisible to the naked eye, can protect sensitive molecular materials and could prove a significant technology in areas including food science, biotechnology and medicine.

The capsules were made with help from engineers from the University of Sheffield, the United Kingdom, using a specially-developed microengineering process that combines the power of microfluidic manufacturing with the value of natural silk. The process mimics on the microscale the way in which Bombyx mori silkworms spin the cocoons from which natural silk is harvested. The capsules comprise a solid and tough shell of silk nano-fibrils that protects a centre of liquid cargo, and are more than a thousand times smaller than those created by silkworms.

The team suggests that these ‘micrococoons’ are a potential solution to a common technological problem: how to protect sensitive molecules that have potential health or nutritional benefits, but can easily degrade and lose these favourable qualities during storage or processing. The study argues that sealing such molecules in a protective layer of silk could be the answer, and that silk micrococoons that are far too small to see (or taste) could be used to house tiny particles of beneficial molecular “cargo” in products like cosmetics and food.