(758f) Recent Advances with Silk Proteins for Medicine

Silk is one of the oldest biomaterials, utilized as sutures for centuries, yet undergoing a rebirth into new biomaterial formats and applications. Fundamental aspects of control of silk protein biomaterial structure and function have led to new silk-based biomaterials for drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Exploitation of silk processing, along with specialized functionalization, can be used to modulate biological responses, mechanics, degradation lifetime and biological utility in vitro and in vivo. Recent advances in technological innovation and translation of silk biomaterials will be discussed.