British researchers find spinning method from wild moth

British researchers reported a few days ago that they have found a way to extract filaments from the knots of some wild moths. The resulting silk is close to the quality of silk. For regions such as Africa and South America that are not suitable for raising silkworms, this may bring opportunities for the local silk industry.

Researchers at the University of Oxford and other institutions in the United States reported in the American academic journal Biological Macromolecules that the reason why some of the wild moths end up with knots is that it is difficult to extract silk because its surface is covered with a harder layer of calcium oxalate. Using EDTA solution, these crucibles can be softened and filaments can be extracted from them.

Tom Gessan, who led the research, said that experiments have shown that this method not only helps to extract silk from wild moths, but also does not affect the quality of these silks. The high-quality silk obtained from wild moths is comparable to silk.

The researchers believe that for areas that are not suitable for feeding silkworms but are rich in wild moths, such as Africa and South America, the results of this research have the potential to bring a “wild silkworm”.