The biosynthesis of structural materials in the form of fibers and biocomposites is unsurpassed—complex multicomponent composite structures can be made through seamless integration of polymer synthesis, mineralization, and self-assembly. The results of multidisciplinary research to understand structure/property relationships in natural silk and to prepare synthetic analogs to spider draglines (see Figure for a schematic representation) are reviewed.
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OʼBrien et al. (1998) studied this question.