100% silk screws have been used to repair broken bones

The low stiffness of silk, which is similar to that of bone, and its ability to break down in the body, make it a promising bioengineering material compared with traditional metal plates and screws, the researchers say.

Lead researcher Dr David Kaplan told BBC News: “The future is very exciting. We envision a whole set of orthopaedic devices for repair based on this – from plates and screws to almost any kind of device you can think of where you don’t want hardware left in the body.”

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