Meeting Abstract

S7.1  Tuesday, Jan. 6  Evolution of complex biomaterial performance: the case of spider silk SWANSON, B*; ANDERSON, S; Gonzaga University swansonb@gonzaga.edu

Biomaterials provide an opportunity to use the staggering diversity, complexity and exceptional properties of natural materials for applications from the biomedical to the military. To these ends, state of the art engineering techniques have been focused on understanding the relationships between biomaterial structure and properties. Concurrently, comparative biologists have recognized that biomaterials are an important component of biodiversity and that biomaterials are integral to the evolution and ecology of the species that produce them. Therefore, biomaterials are examined from multiple points of view and we posit that true understanding of these materials will depend on the integration of engineering and biological techniques and knowledge. An excellent example of a biomaterial for which understanding requires both biological and engineering techniques is spider silk. Silk is essential for a variety of functions in the ecology of the diverse spider clade. It is also a complex biological polymer that exhibits uniquely exceptional toughness by combining high strength and extensibility. I first review our understanding of the functional structure of silk and how recent advances in nanomechanical characterization have improved our understanding of the fiber. I then describe recent research that examines the evolution of silk properties in basal spiders. From these data we can begin to reconstruct the evolution of exceptional properties in this fiber and understand the correlations and constraints on complex biomaterial evolution.