To grow skeletal muscles, scientists are using silkworm silk. The cell culture has been enhanced and hopefully, it will lead to a better solution and treatment for muscle atrophy. This discovery was made possible by researchers from Utah University. Scientist uses many techniques when they do some sort of surgery or detecting any disease, the devices that they use are highly equipped and coordinated with their practice while testing treatment they generally grow model cells on a flat plastic surface and then they monitor that how this is growing and taking a shape from it. But there is a limitation on conducting this process on a two-dimensional surface but the model is a 3D model. To develop it and see the changes is very difficult but now scientists have made it possible.
Thus, USS researchers developed a three-dimensional cell culture surface by growing cells on silk fibers that are evenly wrapped around an acrylic chassis. This gives a feel of exactly a real model which will do the functions accordingly. There are two types of silk; one of them is considered native silk and the other is transgenic silkworm silk, the latter is produced by silkworm when modified with spider silk genes. The cell culture is something where we create artificial things and there, both the silk are used; native and transgenic silkworm silk.
Native silkworm silks have been used in ancient times as 3D cell culture models, the skeletal muscle modeling needs a very good quality of silkworm silk because there is a lot of tension and pressure on it but this is the first time that transgenic silkworm silk is used for building a model. The cells that grow on the usual plastic surface have not been very effective due to some reasons but are being seen that cells that grow on silkworm have proved to be mimicking human skeletal muscle. These cells show increased mechanical flexibility and increased expression of genes which is highly required for muscle contraction.
