ABSTRACT
Silk has fascinated humans since ancient times; silk fibres have been used in textiles for more than 5,000 years and for many centuries as a suturing material. The remarkable strength and toughness of silk stems from its evolution as a structural engineering material in nature. Over the past 25 years, we have seen a tremendous development of both bottom-up and top-down approaches for the generation of silk biopolymers. Specifically, reverse engineering of silk cocoons and the advent of recombinant technologies have been paramount for a better understanding of silks and the formation of novel silk formats, such as films, sponges, scaffolds, hydrogels as well as micro- and nanoparticles. In this chapter, the role of silk in drug and cell delivery applications, with specific reference to silk hydrogels is presented. This chapter highlights emerging trends, opportunities and challenges, as well as provide a sound background on silk biopolymers for the silk novice.
