Ex vivo Spider silk, an exploration of the novel method for the dissection and culturing of spider silk glands.
Publication Date
December 31, 2025
Creator
Abstract
This thesis will detail the novel system that has been developed to dissect out and maintain in culture the glands that produce a spider’s silk. As well as the findings surrounding the internal structures of the gland’s cells, this study system will allow exploration of how the glands function under stress and provide potential avenues for future applications and study. This will be done in three parts. Firstly, describing the methodologies for the removal and culture of the silk glands as well as the confirmatory work to show the glands are not just surviving, but actively producing silk. Secondly the exploration of the observational data made possible through viewing the glands in culture. Finally, showing the materials research that is possible through having access to previously inaccessible liquid silk dope for testing, the work surrounding the new methodology for the dissolution and reprinting of native spun spider silk, and the insights this gives us into the way silk proteins fold and organise in the gland that produces one of the most studied biomaterials in the natural world.
Item Type
ethesis
Thesis Type
PhD
Supervisors
Subjects (LC)
Associated Schools / Departments
School of Life Sciences
eprints ID
81547
UoN Repository URI
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Name
Thornber Morgan 14301012 Thesis Corrected.pdf
Type
Full-text
Description
Examined. List of correction made
Size
3.31 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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