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Cheryl Hayashi    

Cheryl Hayashi studies the delicate but terrifically strong silk threads that make up a spider\'s web, finding startling applications for human use.

Biologist Cheryl Hayashi is fascinated with spiders and their silks, and for good reason. Made of a mix of proteins, spider silks come in thousands of variations; there are over 40,000 species of spiders, with many spiders capable of producing half a dozen types. Some silks have the tensile strength of steel -- and often are much tougher -- while remaining light as air and extremely supple. And spiders use their silk in diverse ways: to make their homes and trap their food, to travel, to court and to protect their eggs.

 

In her lab at UC Riverside, Hayashi explores spider silk’s genetic makeup, evolution and unique biomechanics (winning a MacArthur “genius" grant for it in 2007). Her work blurs the boundary between biology and materials science, looking for the molecular basis of this wondrous material and exploring how humans might learn from it. Hayashi's work may inspire new biomimetic materials for a huge variety of uses, from biodegradable fishing lines and sutures to superstrong ropes and armor cloth.

News


TED Talk, Cheryl Hayashi: “The Magnificence of Spider Silk”
So, we’ve learned that all spiders can produce silk, but what exactly is spider silk, how do spiders make it, and what do spiders use it for? Over the next few weeks, I will attempt to answer these questions, and more, in a series of posts on the basics of this fascinating topic.
Spider lessons: How to mend your body with silk - CNN.com
updated 7:16 AM EST, Thu December 19, 2013 ..... There is a scientist, Cheryl Hayashi, who works trying to decode the molecular structure of spider silk.

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