] About a year ago, researchers [took] genetic material ] from spiders, spliced it into mammalian cells and used ] the cells to produce silk proteins. ] ] Now, researchers in Japan have done a similar bit of ] genetic engineering, only with a reverse goal in mind. ] They've modified silkworms to produce a mammalian protein ] -- specifically, human-type collagen -- along with silk ] in their cocoons. Down a New Silk Road |