Will you wear clothes made of muscle fibers?

Do you wear clothes made of muscle fibers? Use them to tie shoelaces or even wear them as belts? This may sound a bit strange, but if these fibers can withstand more than cotton, silk, nylon or even Kevlar before they break So much energy, why not?

Don't worry, this muscle can be produced without harming any animals

Researchers at the McKay School of Engineering at Washington University in St.

Their research was published in the August 30th issue of Nature Communications

In addition: "It is cheap to produce and scalable

The muscle protein synthesized in Zhang's laboratory is Titin, one of the three main protein components of muscle tissue

Zhang said that muscle fibers have been of interest for a long time

In order to avoid some of the problems that usually prevent bacteria from producing large proteins, the research team designed a bacteria that spliced ​​small pieces of protein together to form an ultra-high polymer with a molecular weight of about 2 megatons—about the size of a typical bacterial protein.

In collaboration with Professor Young Shin Jun of the Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering of Northwestern University and Professor Sinan Keten of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the research team then analyzed the structure of these fibers to determine the molecular mechanisms that give them special toughness, strength, and damping capabilities, or The ability to dissipate mechanical energy in the form of heat

Sargent pointed out that in addition to gorgeous clothing or protective armor (again, this fiber is stronger than the Kevlar fiber used in bulletproof vests), this material has many potential biomedical applications

Zhang's research team does not intend to stop at artificial muscle fibers

Sargent said: "The beauty of this system is that it is indeed a platform that can be applied anywhere