Worms may spin silk fit for skin

Silk cocoons could become puffs of valuable human proteins if a new bioengineering method developed by Japanese scientists pans out.

NEON COCOONS. Green signifies the presence of human collagen in the cocoons’ silk. M. Tomita/Japan Science and Technology Corp.

In the past few decades, various biotechnology research teams have devised ways to mass-produce medically or industrially useful proteins by modifying the DNA of organisms.